Subroutine return value

monk2b has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I am attempting to write a subroutine and get back the return value. I am unaware of a key ingredient that makes this work properly because I am not able to get the return value.

This is what I have so far. I would appreciate any help in making me understand what I don't know about passing the return value back to the rest of the script.

#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;

my $List = "/bin/ls";
my $tmp = "/tmp";
my $var = "/var";
my ($Results1, $Results2);
&DoList($List, $Results1, $Results2, $tmp, $var);

print "Tmp is\n$Results1\n";

print "Var is\n$Results2\n";

sub DoList {

my ($List, $Results1, $Results2, $tmp, $var);
($List, $Results1, $Results2, $tmp, $var) = @_;

$Results1 = `$List $tmp`;
$Results2 = `$List $var`;
return( $Results1, $Results2);
}
[download]

I got 99 problems, but a @%$()_ ain't one.

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Re: Subroutine return value by moritz (Cardinal) on Nov 09, 2007 at 15:58 UTC
You have to assign the return value of your subroutine: `my ($result1, $result2) = DoList($List, $tmp, $var);` There's no need to pass `$Results1, $Results2` to your sub.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Subroutine return value by monk2b (Pilgrim) on Nov 09, 2007 at 16:18 UTC
Thank you for the quick response. I got 99 problems, but a @%$()_ ain't one.	[reply]
Re: Subroutine return value by FunkyMonk (Bishop) on Nov 09, 2007 at 16:02 UTC
You probably want: `my ($Results1, $Results2) = &DoList($List, $Results1, $Results2, $tmp, + $var);` [download] but it comes with free advice: Don't use `&` when calling subroutines Perl can read directory listings without resorting to external commands - take a look at opendir, readdir and glob.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Subroutine return value by glide (Pilgrim) on Nov 09, 2007 at 17:25 UTC
And for something more complex try this one, File::Find::Rule. It's very handy.	[reply]
Re: Subroutine return value by shmem (Chancellor) on Nov 09, 2007 at 19:12 UTC
`my ($Results1, $Results2); &DoList($List, $Results1, $Results2, $tmp, $var);` [download] If you want the subroutine to modify its parameters, you have to modify elements of @_ directly, not taking a copy: sub DoList { my $List = $_[0]; # first element in @_ my ($tmp, $var) = @_[3,4]; $_[1] = `$List $tmp`; $_[2] = `$List $var`; } [download] See perlsub, in the DESCRIPTION section just after the first code examples: "... a function is free to do in-place modifications of @_ and change its caller's values". --shmem _($_=" "x(1<<5)."?\n".q·/)Oo. G°\ / /\_¯/(q / ---------------------------- \__(m.====·.(_("always off the crowd"))."· ");sub _{s./.($e="'Itrs `mnsgdq Gdbj O`qkdq")=~y/"-y/#-z/;$e.e && print}	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Subroutine return value by downer (Monk) on Nov 09, 2007 at 16:52 UTC
you need to assign data to Results1 and Results2: `my($results1, $results2) = &DoList(....);` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Subroutine return value by narainhere (Monk) on Nov 10, 2007 at 05:45 UTC
This would help if you don't want to modify your code much #!/usr/bin/perl use warnings; use strict; my $List = "/bin/ls"; my $tmp = "/tmp"; my $var = "/var"; my ($Results1, $Results2); &DoList(); print "Tmp is\n$Results1\n"; print "Var is\n$Results2\n"; sub DoList { $Results1 = `$List $tmp`; $Results2 = `$List $var`; } [download] But mind this..global variables are discouraged in larger scripts.The safe thing is to assign the return value(s) as suggested by moritz. The world is so big for any individual to conquer	[reply] [d/l]

The world is so big for any individual to conquer