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If I try

my %x;
BEGIN {
%x = %{ do '/path/to/some/file' };
}

....where the file '/path/to/some/file' consists of the string
"+{ A => 1}\n", then everything is fine, but if instead I do

my %x;
BEGIN {
use constant DO_FILE => '/path/to/some/file';
%x = %{ do DO_FILE };
}

....I get an error ("Can't use an undefined value as a HASH reference").
(I get this error whether I place the "use constant" statement
inside or before the BEGIN block.)

Is there no way to perform a do operation in a BEGIN block using
a constant? Can someone explain to me, please, what's going on?
(Yes, I did read perlmod; it didn't help me with this one.)

Many thanks!

jill

--
To s&e^n]d me m~a}i]l r%e*m?o\v[e bit from my a|d)d:r{e:s]s.

In <c6u7e7$es9$> J Krugman <> writes:

>If I try

> my %x;
> BEGIN {
> %x = %{ do '/path/to/some/file' };
> }

>...where the file '/path/to/some/file' consists of the string
>"+{ A => 1}\n", then everything is fine, but if instead I do

> my %x;
> BEGIN {
> use constant DO_FILE => '/path/to/some/file';
> %x = %{ do DO_FILE };
> }



Sorry, I omitted an important line ("use strict;") in the snippets
above. I should have written:

If I try

use strict;
my %x;
BEGIN {
%x = %{ do '/path/to/some/file' };
}

....where the file '/path/to/some/file' consists of the string
"+{ A => 1}\n", then everything is fine, but if instead I do

use strict;
my %x;
BEGIN {
use constant DO_FILE => '/path/to/some/file';
%x = %{ do DO_FILE };
}

....I get an error ("Can't use an undefined value as a HASH reference").
(I get this error whether I place the "use constant" statement
inside or before the BEGIN block.)

>Is there no way to perform a do operation in a BEGIN block using
>a constant? Can someone explain to me, please, what's going on?
>(Yes, I did read perlmod; it didn't help me with this one.)

>Many thanks!

>jill
--
To s&e^n]d me m~a}i]l r%e*m?o\v[e bit from my a|d)d:r{e:s]s.

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004, J Krugman wrote:

>
> If I try
>
> my %x;
> BEGIN {
> %x = %{ do '/path/to/some/file' };
> }
>
> ...where the file '/path/to/some/file' consists of the string
> "+{ A => 1}\n", then everything is fine, but if instead I do
>
> my %x;
> BEGIN {
> use constant DO_FILE => '/path/to/some/file';
> %x = %{ do DO_FILE };
> }
>
> ...I get an error ("Can't use an undefined value as a HASH reference").
> (I get this error whether I place the "use constant" statement
> inside or before the BEGIN block.)
>
> Is there no way to perform a do operation in a BEGIN block using
> a constant? Can someone explain to me, please, what's going on?
> (Yes, I did read perlmod; it didn't help me with this one.)



The problem is unrelated to the BEGIN block.

You can force the context to a subroutine call (you'll have to study
constant.pm to see why):

use strict;
use warnings;

my %x;

BEGIN {
use constant DOFILE => '/path/to/file';
%x = %{ do +DOFILE() };
}

$\ = "\n";
$, = " ";
print keys %x, values %x;

print "My do file is", DOFILE;

Though I have to ask: why use such an awkward method to define a
hash?

--
Hope this helps,
Steven

J Krugman <> wrote in comp.lang.perl.misc:
>
>
>
> If I try
>
> my %x;
> BEGIN {
> %x = %{ do '/path/to/some/file' };
> }
>
> ...where the file '/path/to/some/file' consists of the string
> "+{ A => 1}\n", then everything is fine, but if instead I do
>
> my %x;
> BEGIN {
> use constant DO_FILE => '/path/to/some/file';
> %x = %{ do DO_FILE };
> }
>
> ...I get an error ("Can't use an undefined value as a HASH reference").
> (I get this error whether I place the "use constant" statement
> inside or before the BEGIN block.)
>
> Is there no way to perform a do operation in a BEGIN block using
> a constant? Can someone explain to me, please, what's going on?
> (Yes, I did read perlmod; it didn't help me with this one.)

The problem has to do with Perl's parsing of "do" statements. With the
BLOCK and EXPR forms, plus the deprecated SUBROUTINE form, there is
a bit of ambiguity to resolve, and Perl gets it wrong here. I'm not
sure what exactly is going on, but writing "do" with parentheses will
keep Perl on track:

use constant DO_FILE => '/tmp/x';
%x = %{ do( DO_FILE) };

will work, with or without BEGIN.

Anno