Treating sub output as a hash

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

Hello all. This question pertains to PERL5.* I know that I can use a function output as an array easily, w/o needing temporary arrays I.E.:

foreach $line ($self->getAllLines() {... }
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I want to be able to do the same with a sub that return hashes, but i can't get it to work. See tiny example below using perl -e:

liord@analog4 267 > perl -e 'sub a { %a = ( 1 , "ho" ); return %a} pri
+nt keys a(), "\n"; '
Type of arg 1 to keys must be hash (not subroutine entry) at -e line 1
+, near "),"
Execution of -e aborted due to compilation errors.
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However, using a variable to get the hash and then using keys on the variable, works:

liord@analog4 268 > perl -e 'sub a { %a = ( 1 , "ho" ); return %a} %t=
+ a() ; print keys %t , "\n"; '
1
[download]

Is there a way to avoid defining %t, and make the code more compact?

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Re: Treating sub output as a hash by chromatic (Archbishop) on Jan 26, 2012 at 17:20 UTC
The problem is that `return %hash` doesn't return a hash. It returns a list. Only when you assign that list to something hashy (a hash or an anonymous hash) can you treat it as a hash. Improve your skills with Modern Perl: the free book.	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Treating sub output as a hash by moritz (Cardinal) on Jan 26, 2012 at 17:05 UTC
You can return a reference to a hash (`return \%a`), and then use it as `print keys %{ a() }`; Perl 6 - second systems done right	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Treating sub output as a hash by AnomalousMonk (Archbishop) on Jan 26, 2012 at 17:26 UTC
With 5.14, one can use keys, values and each directly on an unblessed hash (or array) reference or an expression that evaluates as such (although this is flagged as "highly experimental"). I don't have 5.14 and so cannot provide a working example, but I think it should go something like this: `for my $k (keys function_returning_hash_ref()) { print "the hash has a key $k \n"; } sub function_returning_hash_ref { return { fee => 'Fie', foe => 'Fum', }; }` [download] Update: Example tested OK with 5.14 per chromatic (with thanks!).	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Treating sub output as a hash by JavaFan (Canon) on Jan 26, 2012 at 22:33 UTC
Is there a way to avoid defining %t, and make the code more compact? `print keys %{{a}};` [download] `a()` returns a list. The inner `{}` make a hashref, and the outer `%{}` dereferences this hashref.	[reply] [d/l] [select]