That may not, probably won't, work in all cases ... consider when the value of
$item->{$_} is
0: in this case, the wanted value of
0 will be overwritten by the empty string, since
$item->{$_} is, from a perl POV, false. Hence
Corions suggestion, tho' not quite what you were seeking, is better.
A user level that continues to overstate my experience :-))