Need help getting perl array out of scalar context

Question

I have a perl array I need to store in the following way:

 $self->{spec}->{allImages} = @allImages;

Then I need to retrieve the contents later:

 print Dumper($self->{spec}->{allImages});

This yields:

 $VAR1 = 10;

(the number of items in the array).

How can I break out of scalar context and get $self->{spec}->{allImages} back as a list?

possible duplicate of [Array in value of hash perl](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13965196/array-in-value-of-hash-perl) — Jonathan Hall, Feb 12 '15 at 20:16

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 12 '15 at 17:16

9

Each hash value can only be a scalar.

You must store a reference to the array:

$self->{spec}->{allImages} = \@allImages;

answered Feb 12 '15 at 17:16

Andy Lester

2

Or a copy, `[ @allImages ]`, which is sometimes what you want instead. The reference is a stand in for the array so if you change it through a ref, the real array and therefore all its referents change as well. – Ashley Feb 12 '15 at 22:34

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 12 '15 at 17:16

1

You need to change the assignment:

$self->{spec}->{allImages} = \@allImages;

This creates an array-ref that you can use.

answered Feb 12 '15 at 17:16

Jonathan Leffler

2 Answers2