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

UPDATE: Worked it out! Typically, as soon as I pressed "submit"!!!!

The issue was that I was doing = instead of ,:

push @{$invoice_items->{$tmp}} = {

should have been:

push @{$invoice_items->{$tmp}}, {

Ok,I must be getting worn out and missing something stupid here! I have the following code, which takes some values out of a DB, and if it finds 2 entries with the same ID, it puts them into an arrayref (so I can loop them later) 

while (my $invoice = $sth->fetchrow_hashref) {

    my $tmp = $invoice->{amazon_order_id};
       $tmp =~ s/ \(\d+\)//; # get rid of (0) (1) etc at the end of th
+e id, as we dont need it here
    print qq|GOT: $invoice->{amazon_order_id} ($tmp) \n|;
    if ($invoices->{$tmp}) {
        print STDERR "TEST: " . ref($invoice_items->{$tmp}) . "\n";
        push @{$invoice_items->{$tmp}} = {
            name =>     $invoice->{product_name},
            qty =>      $invoice->{quantity_shipped},
            amount =>     $invoice->{item_price},
            total =>    $invoice->{item_price} * $invoice->{quantity_s
+hipped},
        };
        print STDERR "added.. \n";
    } else {
        $invoices->{$tmp} = $invoice;
        push @{$invoice_items->{$tmp}}, {
                name =>     $invoice->{product_name},
                qty =>      $invoice->{quantity_shipped},
                amount =>     $invoice->{item_price},
                total =>    $invoice->{item_price} * $invoice->{quanti
+ty_shipped},
        };

        print Dumper($invoice_items);
    }
}

[download]


For some reason, it just doesn't like it though!

When I run it, I get this (in the part where its trying to `push` a value into the arrayref, not create it); 

TEST: ARRAY
Not an ARRAY reference at make.cgi line 34.

[download]


As you can see, the line:

print STDERR "TEST: " . ref($invoice_items->{$tmp}) . "\n";

... is giving back ARRAY, so why on earth won't it let me do this: 

push @{$invoice_items->{$tmp}} = {
   ... vals
}

[download]


ARGH!

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Not an ARRAY reference, even though it is?
by neilwatson (Priest) on Aug 25, 2015 at 16:09 UTC
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
      Thanks - will try and remember that one :)
[reply]
Re: Not an ARRAY reference, even though it is?
by 1nickt (Canon) on Aug 25, 2015 at 16:11 UTC

    Do you have use warnings; at the top of your program? It appears not, as this code: 

    [nick:~/monks]$ perl -Mstrict -Mwarnings -e"
my @foo; push @foo = {bar=>'baz'};
"

    [download]
    produces this output for me: 
    Useless use of push with no values at -e line 2.
push on reference is experimental at -e line 2.
Not an ARRAY reference at -e line 2.

    [download]
    As you can see the first line of the output is more descriptive about the error, which often helps you find it more quickly. So always use warnings;.

    As an aside: You don't show what you do with your array, but I am wondering if it might not be more useful for you to have your invoices stored in a hash so you can retrieve them by index: 

    #! perl
use strict;
use warnings;

my $cast = list_characters()->{'cast'};

print "The Human is $cast->{'Human'}->{'fname'} $cast->{'Human'}->{'ln
+ame'}.";
print " He is always displaying $cast->{'Human'}->{'characteristic'}.\
+n";

sub list_characters {
  my $Guide;

  $Guide->{'cast'}->{'Human'} = { 
    fname          => 'Arthur',
    lname          => 'Dent',
    characteristic => 'bewilderment',
  };  

  $Guide->{'cast'}->{'Betelgeusian'} = { 
    fname          => 'Zaphod',
    lname          => 'Beeblebrox',
    characteristic => 'narcissism',
  };  

  $Guide->{'cast'}->{'Robot'} = { 
    fname          => 'Marvin',
    lname          => 'the Paranoid Android',
    characteristic => 'depression',
  };  

  return $Guide;
}

__END__

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    Output: 

    [09:07][nick:~/monks]$ perl 1139851.pl
The Human is Arthur Dent. He is always displaying bewilderment.

    [download]

    The way forward always starts with a minimal test.
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
      Thanks - yeah I have strict and warnings enabled :)

      For the code - thats how I ended up doing it. I only put it into a new var after having the issue with the "not an ARRAY" issue. After I got that figured out, I moved it all back into the main hash (along with all the order details)

      Thanks!
[reply]
Re: Not an ARRAY reference, even though it is?
by stevieb (Canon) on Aug 25, 2015 at 15:32 UTC
[reply]

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