Hi

You're kinda stuck with the fact that all parameters to your sub are going to be passed in through @_. You can make the assignment the first thing you do in the sub, either by shifting or assigning.

sub functionname
{
 my $string_param = shift;
 my $other_string_param = shift;
 my @array_param = @_ ; #-- the remnant after the first two are assign
+ed

 #-- do edit check here, throw error

 #-- do rest of sub function

}
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or all at once

sub functionname
{
 my ( $string_param, $other_string_param, @array_param ) = @_;

 #-- do edit check here, throw error

 #-- do rest of sub function

}
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note that if you want to pass in a mix of strings and an array, the array has to come last, as everything gets 'flattened' onto @_. If you want to pass in two or more arrays, or an array in the middle of your list, you need to use a reference.

sub functionname
{
 my $string_param = shift;
 my $array_ref = shift;
 my @array = @{$array_ref};
 my $other_string_param = shift;

 #-- do edit check here, throw error

 #-- do rest of sub function

}

#-- call as:
sub functionname( $string_param, \@array_param, $other_string_param);
[download]

Finally, stay away from sub prototypes. Search the monastery for all the reasons why.

- j