Is there a compelling reason not to just use anonymous hashes for your problem? Why do your variable names need to be set a run-time? For most problems the headaches introduced by not using strict outweigh the benefits.

use strict;
my @array = ();
my $hash_ref = {one => "number"};
$hash_ref->{"a"} = "letter";
push @array, $hash_ref;
$hash_ref = {};
%{$hash_ref} = (banana => "fruit",
                carrot => "vegetable");
push @array, $hash_ref;
for my $element (@array) {
    for (sort keys %{$element}) {
        print "$_ => $element->{$_}\n";
    }
}
[download]

For for info on arrays, hashes, etc. check out perldata and, for the fancy stuff, perldsc.

I think that has done the job *and* explained it.
Cheers :-)

my $variable = { key => "value" };
# or
push @array, { key => "value", key2 => $value2 };

# access to the items:
say $array[0]{key};     # prints ``value''
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See perldata, perlreftut and perldsc.

Doesn't that just dynamically create contents for a hash? I'm after a dynamically create name for a hash.
Or am I being slow and missed your point there? :-)

One thing is for sure, until you explain to us why you are "trying to create a set of dynamically named hashes, with an array of references pointing to them" we will probably miss your point. :)

Is there some reason why an anonymous hash won't do exactly what you need without having to have an additional array? After all, you can always create a dynamic list of the hashes keys and values whenever you want.

jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)

Sorry, I answered your question But then you are going to have to create a dynamically named anonymous hash? and ignored the "named" part, because anonymous and named are contradictory.

Whenever you think you want variables with variable names, you can just use a hash. In this case you then have a Hash-of-Hash structure. If you want variable named variables nonetheless, search for weak references.

• Why it's stupid to `use a variable as a variable name` - part 1
• Why it's stupid to `use a variable as a variable name` - part 2
• Why it's stupid to `use a variable as a variable name` - part 3