It's definitely a necessity even though though it could be fudged this time.

For the record. This is from API.XS: 

case T_POINTER:                                        ## If pointer
    params[i].t = T_POINTER;
    origST[i] = ST(i+1);
    if(has_proto) {                                   
        pointerCallPack(ST(i+1), i, intypes);
        params[i].p = (char *) SvPV_nolen(ST(i+1));
    } else {                                          ## and no proto
        if(SvIOK(ST(i+1)) && SvIV(ST(i+1)) == 0) {    ## and IV is OK 
+and zero
            params[i].p = NULL;                       ## use NULL
        } else {
            params[i].p = (char *) SvPV_nolen(ST(i+1)); ## else use th
+e address of the PV
        }
    }

[download]

So, if you work with the module instead of fighting it, and use 0 (zero) instead of undef to indicate that you want this pointer parameter set to null, that's what it does!

Ie. it's not a "fudge", but how the author designed it!

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
"Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."

In reply to Re^5: ... (Proof!) by BrowserUk
in thread Non-blocking Reads from Pipe Filehandle by cbudin

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.