I am using ActiveState Perl 5.8.8 in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. I want to create a subroutine to close and optionally unlink one or more open files. If I understand correctly, close takes a file handle and unlink takes a filename or glob (but not a handle). So the first challenge is that I really don't want to have to send both the file handles *and* filenames to the subroutine. But apparently I'm also doing something more basically stupid, because my subroutine does not succeed in even closing the files with the handles I'm sending it (which were opened as $fh variables). 1) What am I doing wrong with closing the files using the passed handles? 2) Any suggestions on how a single subroutine can both close and unlink a file without having to pass it both the file handle and filename? 
#!C:/Perl/bin/perl /w

# CloseUnlinkTest.pl

use strict;

my $file1 = 'file1.txt';
my $file2 = 'file2.txt';
my $file3 = 'file3.txt';

open(my $handle1, ">", $file1) or &quit({}, "Cannot open $file1: $!");
+                          # Quit, dont need to close any files
open(my $handle2, ">", $file2) or &quit({$handle1=>0}, "Cannot open $f
+ile2: $!");               # Quit, close $file1
open(my $handle3, ">", $file3) or &quit({$handle1=>0, $handle2=>0}, "C
+annot open $file3: $!");  # Quit, close $file1 and file2

# Do stuff with the files ...

&quit({$handle1=>1, $handle2=>1, $handle3=>1}, "CloseUnlinkTest.pl fin
+ished");  # Quit, close and unlink all 3 files

sub quit {
  my ($filesToClose, $message) = @_;                                  
+          # Get calling parameters
  my %filesToClose  = %$filesToClose;                                 
+          # Dereference $filesToClose into hash %filesToClose
  print "\%filesToClose = @{[%filesToClose]}\n";                      
+          # Debug to show hash contents
  print "message = $message\n";                                       
+          
  while (my ($file, $unlink) = each %filesToClose) {                  
+          # Loop thru the files to be closed
    print "closing $file with $unlink\n";                             
+          # Debug to show the key and value of this hash entry
    close($file) or print "Error closing $file: $!\n";                
+          # Close this file
    unlink($file) or print "Error unlinking $$file: $!\n" if $unlink; 
+          # Unlink this file if $unlink is not zero
  }
  exit;
}

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I would greatly appreaciate any direction the wise monks can provide. Thanks!

In reply to Trouble Passing File Handles by Photius

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