my @array = (1, 2, 7, 10);
my $array_ref = \@array;

print $array[2]; # prints 7
print $array_ref->[2]; # prints 7 (difference is the -> )
[download]

bless basically means that it's not just a reference, it's a reference to an object of some class.

Read the documentation for Data::Dumper - it's a great tool to see how these complex data structures are built.

So I'm trying to print from this array reference, but I'm missing something.

#!/usr/local/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser);
use XML::Parser;
use CGI;
use Data::Dumper;

my $q = CGI->new();
print $q->header();

my $parse = new XML::Parser(Style => 'Objects');

my $address = "<LOC><HNO></HNO><STN>Eagle Way</STN><MCN>Gotham City</M
+CN></LOC>";

my $tmp = $parse->parse($address);

print $tmp->[0][1];
[download]

So I'm taking the array reference created by $parse->parse($address) and storing it in $tmp. Then I'm trying to print from the array reference but I get an error saying that $tmp isn't an array refernce.

What am I missing?

In "Objects"-Style, XML::Parser returns to you a tree of objects (thus the name) that represent the XML you have parsed. That is similar to DOM, but simpler.

Have a look at the output of

print Dumper ($tmp);
[download]

It's a quite complex structure:
Read more... (2 kB)
Thus, to access the values you want, you have to write:

print $tmp->[0]->{Kids}->[1]->{Kids}->[0]->{Text}, 
      "\n", 
      $tmp->[0]->{Kids}->[2]->{Kids}->[0]->{Text};
[download]

which produces

      
Eagle Way
Gotham City
[download]

Or in a loop:

for ( @{$tmp->[0]->{Kids}} )
{
    print $_->{Kids}->[0]->{Text}, "\n";
}
[download]



holli, /regexed monk/

I'm not sure that XML::Parser is what you need here, at least not for the task you're presenting. See an example of the usage of XML::Parser here.

Perhaps all you need is XML::Simple ?

#!/usr/local/bin/perl -w

use warnings;
use strict;
use XML::Simple;
use Data::Dumper;


my $xs = new XML::Simple(KeepRoot => 1);
my $address = "<LOC><HNO></HNO><STN>Eagle Way</STN><MCN>Gotham City</M
+CN></LOC>";

my $ref = $xs->XMLin($address);

print Dumper($ref);


# to print "Eagle way"
print $ref->{LOC}->{STN};
[download]