Blimey yes. Ugh. OK, make it the conditional then:

for (;$BASKET and (my @socks = $BASKET -> can_read(2)) or 1); ) {  
  ...  
}
[download]

and now it's nearly like the original non-for code.

Probably simpler just to use the while. {grin}

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker