When you say, "assign key::value pairs to the hash" do you mean like this:

sub func{
  $Hash{Key} = 'Value';
}
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or do you mean:

sub func{
  %Hash = ('Key', 'Value');
}
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If the second, then you are overwriting your hash each time.

More information and some sample code would go a long way, here.

Russ
Brainbench 'Most Valuable Professional' for Perl