Thanks for everyone's responses. I am actually using Perl v 5.8.8. Also, what would I call a subroutine with other than &? I am currently learning to use strict but as this is an assignment, I need to get it to work before the due date and I cannot spend the extra time on learning strict before I have to turn it in. Also, if I were to stop using global variables, how would I change the admin password in this program. At the moment I have a subroutine that changes the global variable $adminpass.

Well, I don't want to write your assignment answer for you, so I'll give you some different code to ponder a while that may help answer some of your questions.

use strict;
use warnings;

main (); # Only to ensure no global variables are used - look ma, no v
+ariables


sub main {
    my ($dogName, $color) = getDogData ();
    print "The $color dog's name is $dogName\n";
    ($dogName, $color) = getDogData (3);
    print "The $color dog's name is $dogName\n";
}


sub getDogData {
    my ($select) = @_;
    my @names = qw(woof k9 fred max);
    my @colors = qw(spotted white black brown);
    
    $select = rand (@names) if ! defined $select;
    return $names[$select], $colors[$select];
}
[download]

Prints:

The black dog's name is fred
The brown dog's name is max
[download]

Please note that using strictures is not something you do when you have time, it is something you do to save time! Strictures tell you you have done something wrong early and can save huge amounts of time that would otherwise be spent poking around in the dark after black beetles with your eyes closed.

Update: In a follow up question weglarz asked 'What does the "qw" in "my @names = qw(woof k9 fred max);" do?'. See Quote-Like Operators in perlop for a description of Perl's various quote operators like qw.

True laziness is hard work