Re^2: Different behaviour of 'stat' function after assignment to $! (errno).

I can reproduce it, but not explain it.

use Devel::Peek;
$! = 0;
Dump($!);
stat("non_existing_file");
Dump($!);
die "died at first stat" if -$!;
stat("non_existing_file");
Dump($!);
die "died at second stat" if -$!;
[download]

yields

SV = PVMG(0x214d690) at 0x2124478
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (GMG,SMG,pIOK)
  IV = 0
  NV = 0
  PV = 0
  MAGIC = 0x2125900
    MG_VIRTUAL = &PL_vtbl_sv
    MG_TYPE = PERL_MAGIC_sv(\0)
    MG_OBJ = 0x2124460
    MG_LEN = 1
    MG_PTR = 0x21242d0 "!"
SV = PVMG(0x214d690) at 0x2124478
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (GMG,SMG,pIOK)
  IV = 0
  NV = 0
  PV = 0
  MAGIC = 0x2125900
    MG_VIRTUAL = &PL_vtbl_sv
    MG_TYPE = PERL_MAGIC_sv(\0)
    MG_OBJ = 0x2124460
    MG_LEN = 1
    MG_PTR = 0x21242d0 "!"
SV = PVMG(0x214d690) at 0x2124478
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (GMG,SMG,pNOK,pPOK)
  IV = 0
  NV = 2
  PV = 0x21243a0 "No such file or directory"\0
  CUR = 25
  LEN = 32
  MAGIC = 0x2125900
    MG_VIRTUAL = &PL_vtbl_sv
    MG_TYPE = PERL_MAGIC_sv(\0)
    MG_OBJ = 0x2124460
    MG_LEN = 1
    MG_PTR = 0x21242d0 "!"
died at second stat at bug.pl line 9.
[download]

Nothing "funny" has been done to $! before the second Dump, but it hasn't changed since before the stat.

Comment on Re^2: Different behaviour of 'stat' function after assignment to $! (errno). Select or Download Code

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Re^3: Different behaviour of 'stat' function after assignment to $! (errno). by Anonymous Monk on May 24, 2011 at 11:45 UTC
Nothing "funny" has been done to $! before the second Dump, but it hasn't changed since before the stat. $! , errno, is supposed to be positive, so using -$! is something funny :)	[reply]
Re^4: Different behaviour of 'stat' function after assignment to $! (errno). by ikegami (Patriarch) on May 24, 2011 at 15:53 UTC
Negating positive numbers isn't doing something funny.	[reply]
Re^4: Different behaviour of 'stat' function after assignment to $! (errno). by jpl (Monk) on May 24, 2011 at 12:29 UTC
$! , errno, is supposed to be positive, so using -$! is something funny :) All the "funny" stuff happens after the second Dump, which happens immediately after the stat. Unless the optimizer is punishing us for something that is going to happen later, I cannot explain why the failing stat did not appear to modify $!.	[reply]
Re^5: Different behaviour of 'stat' function after assignment to $! (errno). by Anonymous Monk on May 24, 2011 at 12:54 UTC
It does modify $!, but its only reflected when you Peek if you put $! in int/boolean/string context first, because Peek won't force the conversion. The assignment modified the IV slot, but stat modified the NV/PV slot. $ perl -MDevel::Peek -E " stat 1; Dump($!); $!=666; stat 1; $! and Dum +p($!); " SV = PVMG(0x9b3bfc) at 0x9ba5ec REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (GMG,SMG) IV = 0 NV = 0 PV = 0 MAGIC = 0x9d904c MG_VIRTUAL = &PL_vtbl_sv MG_TYPE = PERL_MAGIC_sv(\0) MG_OBJ = 0x9ba61c MG_LEN = 1 MG_PTR = 0x9da014 "!" SV = PVMG(0x9b3bfc) at 0x9ba5ec REFCNT = 2 FLAGS = (GMG,SMG,pNOK,pPOK) IV = 666 NV = 2 PV = 0x3ffee4 "No such file or directory"\0 CUR = 25 LEN = 28 MAGIC = 0x9d904c MG_VIRTUAL = &PL_vtbl_sv MG_TYPE = PERL_MAGIC_sv(\0) MG_OBJ = 0x9ba61c MG_LEN = 1 MG_PTR = 0x9da014 "!" [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: Different behaviour of 'stat' function after assignment to $! (errno). by Anonymous Monk on May 24, 2011 at 11:54 UTC
The battle of IV versus NV, lol $ perl -MDevel::Peek -e " Dump($!); $!=20; stat 1; printf qq[%d %s %d\ +n], $!,$!,-$!; Dump($!); " SV = PVMG(0x9b3adc) at 0x9ba5ac REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (GMG,SMG) IV = 0 NV = 0 PV = 0 MAGIC = 0x9c6d9c MG_VIRTUAL = &PL_vtbl_sv MG_TYPE = PERL_MAGIC_sv(\0) MG_OBJ = 0x9ba59c MG_LEN = 1 MG_PTR = 0x9c2b7c "!" 2 No such file or directory -20 SV = PVMG(0x9b3adc) at 0x9ba5ac REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (GMG,SMG,pNOK,pPOK) IV = 20 NV = 2 PV = 0x3ffed4 "No such file or directory"\0 CUR = 25 LEN = 28 MAGIC = 0x9c6d9c MG_VIRTUAL = &PL_vtbl_sv MG_TYPE = PERL_MAGIC_sv(\0) MG_OBJ = 0x9ba59c MG_LEN = 1 MG_PTR = 0x9c2b7c "!" [download]	[reply] [d/l]