String or array?

sschneid has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I have the following, which works:

my ($user);

# This isn't defined explicity in production code, I'm just doing it h
+ere to
# illustrate what I (could) get back.
$user->{'host'} = '*';

unless ($user->{'host'} > 1) {
    my $hList = $user->{'host'};
    delete $user->{'host'};
    push @{$user->{'host'}}, $hList;
}
[download]

$user->{'host'} needs to be an array, even if it contains only one item. The code I have works, but gives out an error:

Can't use string ("*") as an ARRAY ref while "strict refs" in use at t
+est.pl line 16.
[download]

...which is understandable, since it's not an array, it's a string.

Can someone suggest a better snippet for what I'm doing? Do I need to create a temporary ref to test on?

Thanks.

-s.

Comment on String or array? Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: String or array? by friedo (Prior) on Sep 15, 2005 at 18:54 UTC
Why do you set `$user->{host}` to '' if you are just deleting it and making it an array ref later? Perhaps I'm missing something, but why not do `$user->{host} = [ '' ];` Update: depending on what the query returns, it's either a string or an array. I need to act on what's given. In that case, you can use ref to figure out what you have: `my $thing = function_that_returns_arrayref_or_string; if( ref $thing eq 'ARRAY' ) { $user->{host} = $thing; } else { $user->{host} = [ $thing ]; }` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: String or array? by ikegami (Patriarch) on Sep 15, 2005 at 18:52 UTC
`$user->{'host'} = [ '*' ]; # An array of one item` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: String or array? by sschneid (Deacon) on Sep 15, 2005 at 18:54 UTC
Yeah... the problem is (maybe I should have specified) that what's put in $user->{'host'} isn't defined by me explicitly -- depending on what the query returns, it's either a string or an array. I need to act on what's given. -s.	[reply]
Re^3: String or array? by ikegami (Patriarch) on Sep 15, 2005 at 18:55 UTC
I figured out what you meant just before you posted. I was about to update my post with the following when your reply appeared: `my ($user); $user->{'host'} = '*'; $user->{'host'} = [ $user->{'host'} ] if not ref $user->{'host'};` [download] `ref`	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: String or array? by sschneid (Deacon) on Sep 15, 2005 at 18:58 UTC
Re: String or array? by borisz (Canon) on Sep 15, 2005 at 18:57 UTC
`my $user; $user->{'host'} = ''; # scalar one element # if $user->{host} is not a reference create a reference to a array $user->{host} = [ $user->{host} ] unless ref $user->{host};` [download] or `$user->{host} = [ '' ];` [download] Boris	[reply] [d/l] [select]