Ummmmm..... it seems to me that either your answer, "yes," to the question whether @array[0] 'is a reference to an array?'

• is inaccurate (eg, 'wrong')
       . ... or else
• @array[0] is something other than the simple content of 'one column of a tab delimited file having three columns' (where the 'simple content' is something sortable -- either numericly or alphabetically -- without further specification of the criteria for sorting).

Which is it?

Update: Added quoted content in second bullet, for clarity and closing paren for correctness. Duh!