In your specific case, maybe a hash would work (there's almost always a better answer than symbolic references):
my $result = "all";

my %button = (
  all  => "notselected",
  none => "notselected",
);

print "$button{$result}\n";

$button{none} = "selected";

$result = "none";

print "$button{$result}\n";

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In reply to Re^2: can't use string as a SCALAR ref while strict refs by runrig
in thread can't use string as a SCALAR ref while strict refs by justinNEE

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