Thanks for replying. I guess I wasn't clear enough. Actually, the two $a variables are supposed to be unrelated. The "my $a" is hypothetically a reasonably appropriate name chosen for the variable given its meaning, but it happens to conflict with perl's use of global $a.

In reply to Re^2: my $a outside sort block incompatibility by Anonymous Monk
in thread my $a outside sort block incompatibility by Anonymous Monk

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