Thank-you for the info, mucho appreciated. I sorta figured out the reference to reference thing from the code errors
I've fumbled my way into having it nearly functional after plenty more hours :) As much as i've hated strict, i'm using it now. So many more errors of course, but in the end it must be the better way to do it (versus as you said, perl guessing what to do)
Thank-you again :) Cheers!