Actually the if is separate from the loop. If there are any elements in the arrayref a flag needs to be set for later that is separate from what is happening in the loop. So its something like this:

   if ( $arrayref && @$arrayref ) {
      # set the flag
   }
   ...
   foreach my $element (@$arrayref) {
     # do stuff
   }
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Of course i could set it in the loop, but then its being set multiple times.