you understand my code correctly! i used the hash $range just for this question.

i need to access data by index. The number of indices is a variable.

   array->[4]
   array->[3]->[5]
   array->[7]->[2]->[3]
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are all valid.

interestingly, the problem is CREATING the Ndim array in a general manner. most examples show loops to build each dimension, each nested loop is one dimension. i actually did write this first, and entering the next nested loop was predicated on a valid index. however, i still have to have N nested loops to support N dimensions. i used the "scalar" paradigm for my question as i thought it is more comprehensible.

i found it straightforward to ACCESS the array generally with the use of "ref". (if the reference is ARRAY, it's another dimension of the array!)