Making a Data Structure

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

I have a data structure that I'm using in LWP::UserAgent and I want to extract it into one variable.

Here's my curent data structure as seen in the POST method of LWP::UserAgent:

my $response = $browser->post(
 $udr,
 [
   "cellgroup" => "Chicago",
   "ucl" => "ALL",
   "table" => "AP",
   "gotcell" => "no",
   "col" => [ qw( KEY CPUTYPE INSTANCE SYSTEM ) ],
   "action" => "Get_Data"
   ],@netscape_headers
);
[download]

I want to extract the structure below out of the POST method and store it in a variable:

 [
   "cellgroup" => "Chicago",
   "ucl" => "ALL",
   "table" => "AP",
   "gotcell" => "no",
   "col" => [ qw( KEY CPUTYPE INSTANCE SYSTEM ) ],
   "action" => "Get_Data"
   ]
[download]

So my post method looks like:

my $response = $browser->post( $udr, $post_elements, @netscape_headers );

I tried assiging the data structure to a HASH and even as a string, but it didn't work. How do I do this?

Comment on Making a Data Structure - Example Select or Download Code

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Re: Making a Data Structure - Example by japhy (Canon) on Sep 22, 2005 at 17:23 UTC
It's not a hash (reference), it's an array reference. Note the square brackets (not curly braces). `my $post_elements = [ ... ]; my $response = $browser->post($udr, $post_elements, @netscape_headers) +;` [download] The reason it's not a hash ref is to easily allow (without the need for references) multiple values for a single key. Jeff `japhy` Pinyan, P.L., P.M., P.O.D, X.S.: Perl, regex, and `perl` hacker How can we ever be the sold short or the cheated, we who for every service have long ago been overpaid? ~~ Meister Eckhart	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Making a Data Structure - Example by planetscape (Chancellor) on Sep 22, 2005 at 21:20 UTC
At the risk of sounding none too bright, I must admit I still have trouble "reading through" data structures, sometimes even "simple" ones. (Personally, I blame dyslexia...) When I am in doubt of what I have or how to process it, I usually turn to one of the techniques I outlined in Re: How can I visualize my complex data structure?. I also like the "view" of a structure provided by atcroft's Re: I've got a hash of hashes how do i get my values out. HTH, planetscape	[reply]