a2p
accept
access
acct
addftinfo
addr2line
adjtime
afmtodit
after
aio_cancel
aio_error
aio_read
aio_return
aio_suspend
aio_waitcomplete
aio_write
alias
aliases
alloc
anvil
append
apply
apropos
ar
array
as
asa
asn1parse
at
atq
atrm
attemptckalloc
attemptckrealloc
authlib
authtest
autopoint
awk
b64decode
b64encode
basename
batch
bc
bdes
bell
bg
bgerror
biff
big5
binary
bind
bindkey
bindtags
bindtextdomain
bio
bitmap
blowfish
bn
bootparams
bootptab
bounce
brandelf
break
breaksw
brk
bsdiff
bsdtar
bsnmpd
bspatch
bthost
btsockstat
buffer
builtin
builtins
bunzip2
button
byacc
bzcat
bzegrep
bzfgrep
bzgrep
bzip2
c2ph
c89
c99
ca
cal
calendar
canvas
cap_mkdb
case
cat
catch
catman
cc
cd
cdcontrol
chdir
checkbutton
checknr
chflags
chfn
chgrp
chio
chkey
chmod
chown
chpass
chroot
chsh
ci
ciphers
ckalloc
ckdist
ckfree
ckrealloc
cksum
cleanup
clear
clipboard
clock
clock_getres
clock_gettime
clock_settime
close
cmp
co
col
colcrt
colldef
colors
colrm
column
comm
command
compile_et
complete
compress
concat
config
connect
console
continue
core
courierlogger
couriertcpd
cp
cpan
cpio
cpp
creat
crl
crontab
crunchgen
crunchide
crypt
crypto
csh
csplit
ctags
ctm
ctm_dequeue
ctm_rmail
ctm_smail
cu
cursor
cursors
cut
cvs
date
dbiprof
dbiproxy
dc
dcgettext
dcngettext
dd
dde
default
defer
deliverquota
des
destroy
devfs
df
dgettext
dgst
dh
dhparam
dialog
diff
diff3
dig
dir
dirent
dirname
dirs
discard
disktab
dngettext
do
domainname
done
dprofpp
dsa
dsaparam
dtmfdecode
du
dup
dup2
eaccess
ec
ecdsa
echo
echotc
ecparam
ed
edit
editrc
ee
egrep
elf
elfdump
elif
else
enc
enc2xs
encoding
end
endif
endsw
engine
enigma
entry
env
envsubst
eof
eqn
err
errno
error
errstr
esac
ethers
euc
eui64
eval
event
evp
ex
exec
execve
exit
expand
export
exports
expr
extattr
extattr_delete_fd
extattr_delete_file
extattr_get_fd
extattr_get_file
extattr_set_fd
extattr_set_file
f77
false
famm
famx
fblocked
fbtab
fc
fchdir
fchflags
fchmod
fchown
fcntl
fconfigure
fcopy
fdescfs
fdformat
fdread
fdwrite
fetch
fg
fgrep
fhopen
fhstat
fhstatfs
fi
file
file2c
fileevent
filename
filetest
find
find2perl
finger
flex
flock
flush
fmt
focus
fold
font
fontedit
for
foreach
fork
format
forward
fpathconf
frame
from
fs
fstab
fstat
fstatfs
fsync
ftp
ftpchroot
ftpusers
ftruncate
futimes
g711conv
gb2312
gb18030
gbk
gcc
gcore
gcov
gdb
gencat
gendsa
genrsa
gensnmptree
getconf
getdents
getdirentries
getdtablesize
getegid
geteuid
getfacl
getfh
getfsstat
getgid
getgroups
getitimer
getlogin
getopt
getopts
getpeername
getpgid
getpgrp
getpid
getppid
getpriority
getresgid
getresuid
getrlimit
getrusage
gets
getsid
getsockname
getsockopt
gettext
gettextize
gettimeofday
gettytab
getuid
glob
global
gmake
goto
gperf
gprof
grab
grep
grid
grn
grodvi
groff
groff_font
groff_out
groff_tmac
grog
grolbp
grolj4
grops
grotty
group
groups
gunzip
gzcat
gzexe
gzip
h2ph
h2xs
hash
hashstat
hd
head
help2man
hesinfo
hexdump
history
host
hostname
hosts
hosts_access
hosts_options
hpftodit
http
hup
i386_get_ioperm
i386_get_ldt
i386_set_ioperm
i386_set_ldt
i386_vm86
iconv
id
ident
idprio
if
ifnames253
ifnames259
image
imapd
incr
indent
indxbib
info
infokey
inode
install
instmodsh
interp
intro
introduction
ioctl
ipcrm
ipcs
ipf
ipftest
ipnat
ippool
ipresend
issetugid
jail
jail_attach
jobid
jobs
join
jot
kbdcontrol
kbdmap
kcon
kdestroy
kdump
kenv
kevent
keycap
keylogin
keylogout
keymap
keysyms
kgdb
kill
killall
killpg
kinit
kldfind
kldfirstmod
kldload
kldnext
kldstat
kldsym
kldunload
klist
kpasswd
kqueue
kse
kse_create
kse_exit
kse_release
kse_switchin
kse_thr_interrupt
kse_wakeup
ktrace
label
labelframe
lam
lappend
last
lastcomm
lastlog
lchflags
lchmod
lchown
ld
ldap
ldapadd
ldapcompare
ldapdelete
ldapmodify
ldapmodrdn
ldappasswd
ldapsearch
ldapwhoami
ldd
leave
less
lesskey
lex
lgetfh
lhash
libnetcfg
library
limit
limits
lindex
link
linprocfs
linsert
lint
lio_listio
list
listbox
listen
lj4_font
lkbib
llength
lmtp
ln
load
loadfont
local
locale
locate
lock
lockf
log
logger
login
logins
logname
logout
look
lookbib
lorder
lower
lp
lpq
lpr
lprm
lptest
lrange
lreplace
ls
lsearch
lseek
lset
lsort
lstat
lsvfs
lutimes
lynx
m4
madvise
magic
mail
maildiracl
maildirkw
maildirmake
mailq
mailx
make
makeinfo
makewhatis
man
manpath
master
mc
mcedit
mcview
md2
md4
md5
mdc2
memory
menu
menubar
menubutton
merge
mesg
message
mincore
minherit
minigzip
mkdep
mkdir
mkfifo
mkimapdcert
mklocale
mknod
mkpop3dcert
mkstr
mktemp
mlock
mlockall
mmap
mmroff
modfind
modfnext
modnext
modstat
moduli
more
motd
mount
mprotect
mptable
msdos
msdosfs
msgattrib
msgcat
msgcmp
msgcomm
msgconv
msgen
msgexec
msgfilter
msgfmt
msggrep
msginit
msgmerge
msgs
msgunfmt
msguniq
mskanji
msql2mysql
msync
mt
munlock
munlockall
munmap
mv
myisamchk
myisamlog
myisampack
mysql
mysqlaccess
mysqladmin
mysqlbinlog
mysqlcheck
mysqld
mysqldump
mysqld_multi
mysqld_safe
mysqlhotcopy
mysqlimport
mysqlshow
mysql_config
mysql_fix_privilege_tables
mysql_zap
namespace
nanosleep
nawk
nc
ncal
ncplist
ncplogin
ncplogout
neqn
netconfig
netgroup
netid
netstat
networks
newaliases
newgrp
nex
nfsstat
nfssvc
ngettext
nice
nl
nm
nmount
nohup
nologin
notify
nroff
nseq
nslookup
ntp_adjtime
ntp_gettime
nvi
nview
objcopy
objdump
objformat
ocsp
od
onintr
open
openssl
opieaccess
opieinfo
opiekey
opiekeys
opiepasswd
option
options
oqmgr
pack
package
packagens
pagesize
palette
pam_auth
panedwindow
parray
passwd
paste
patch
pathchk
pathconf
pawd
pax
pbm
pcre
pcreapi
pcrebuild
pcrecallout
pcrecompat
pcrecpp
pcregrep
pcrematching
pcrepartial
pcrepattern
pcreperform
pcreposix
pcreprecompile
pcresample
pcretest
perl
perl56delta
perl58delta
perl561delta
perl570delta
perl571delta
perl572delta
perl573delta
perl581delta
perl582delta
perl583delta
perl584delta
perl585delta
perl586delta
perl587delta
perl588delta
perl5004delta
perl5005delta
perlaix
perlamiga
perlapi
perlapio
perlapollo
perlartistic
perlbeos
perlbook
perlboot
perlbot
perlbs2000
perlbug
perlcall
perlcc
perlce
perlcheat
perlclib
perlcn
perlcompile
perlcygwin
perldata
perldbmfilter
perldebguts
perldebtut
perldebug
perldelta
perldgux
perldiag
perldoc
perldos
perldsc
perlebcdic
perlembed
perlepoc
perlfaq
perlfaq1
perlfaq2
perlfaq3
perlfaq4
perlfaq5
perlfaq6
perlfaq7
perlfaq8
perlfaq9
perlfilter
perlfork
perlform
perlfreebsd
perlfunc
perlglossary
perlgpl
perlguts
perlhack
perlhist
perlhpux
perlhurd
perlintern
perlintro
perliol
perlipc
perlirix
perlivp
perljp
perlko
perllexwarn
perllinux
perllocale
perllol
perlmachten
perlmacos
perlmacosx
perlmint
perlmod
perlmodinstall
perlmodlib
perlmodstyle
perlmpeix
perlnetware
perlnewmod
perlnumber
perlobj
perlop
perlopenbsd
perlopentut
perlos2
perlos390
perlos400
perlothrtut
perlpacktut
perlplan9
perlpod
perlpodspec
perlport
perlqnx
perlre
perlref
perlreftut
perlrequick
perlreref
perlretut
perlrun
perlsec
perlsolaris
perlstyle
perlsub
perlsyn
perlthrtut
perltie
perltoc
perltodo
perltooc
perltoot
perltrap
perltru64
perltw
perlunicode
perluniintro
perlutil
perluts
perlvar
perlvmesa
perlvms
perlvos
perlwin32
perlxs
perlxstut
perror
pfbtops
pftp
pgrep
phones
photo
pic
pickup
piconv
pid
pipe
pkcs7
pkcs8
pkcs12
pkg_add
pkg_check
pkg_create
pkg_delete
pkg_info
pkg_sign
pkg_version
pkill
pl2pm
place
pod2html
pod2latex
pod2man
pod2text
pod2usage
podchecker
podselect
poll
popd
popup
posix_madvise
postalias
postcat
postconf
postdrop
postfix
postkick
postlock
postlog
postmap
postqueue
postsuper
pr
pread
preadv
printcap
printenv
printf
proc
procfs
profil
protocols
prove
proxymap
ps
psed
psroff
pstruct
ptrace
publickey
pushd
puts
pwd
pwrite
pwritev
qmgr
qmqpd
quota
quotactl
radiobutton
raise
rand
ranlib
rcp
rcs
rcsclean
rcsdiff
rcsfile
rcsfreeze
rcsintro
rcsmerge
read
readelf
readlink
readonly
readv
realpath
reboot
recv
recvfrom
recvmsg
red
ree
refer
regexp
registry
regsub
rehash
remote
rename
repeat
replace
req
reset
resolver
resource
return
rev
revoke
rfcomm_sppd
rfork
rhosts
ripemd
ripemd160
rlog
rlogin
rm
rmd160
rmdir
rpc
rpcgen
rs
rsa
rsautl
rsh
rtld
rtprio
rup
ruptime
rusers
rwall
rwho
s2p
safe
sasl
sasldblistusers2
saslpasswd2
sbrk
scache
scale
scan
sched
sched_getparam
sched_getscheduler
sched_get_priority_max
sched_get_priority_min
sched_rr_get_interval
sched_setparam
sched_setscheduler
sched_yield
scon
scp
script
scrollbar
sdiff
sed
seek
select
selection
semctl
semget
semop
send
sendbug
sendfile
sendmail
sendmsg
sendto
services
sess_id
set
setegid
setenv
seteuid
setfacl
setgid
setgroups
setitimer
setlogin
setpgid
setpgrp
setpriority
setregid
setresgid
setresuid
setreuid
setrlimit
setsid
setsockopt
settc
settimeofday
setty
setuid
setvar
sftp
sh
sha
sha1
sha256
shar
shells
shift
shmat
shmctl
shmdt
shmget
showq
shutdown
sigaction
sigaltstack
sigblock
sigmask
sigpause
sigpending
sigprocmask
sigreturn
sigsetmask
sigstack
sigsuspend
sigvec
sigwait
size
slapadd
slapcat
slapd
slapdn
slapindex
slappasswd
slaptest
sleep
slogin
slurpd
smbutil
smime
smtp
smtpd
socket
socketpair
sockstat
soelim
sort
source
spawn
speed
spinbox
spkac
splain
split
squid
squid_ldap_auth
squid_ldap_group
squid_unix_group
sscop
ssh
sshd_config
ssh_config
stab
startslip
stat
statfs
stop
string
strings
strip
stty
su
subst
sum
suspend
swapoff
swapon
switch
symlink
sync
sysarch
syscall
sysconftool
sysconftoolcheck
systat
s_client
s_server
s_time
tabs
tail
talk
tar
tbl
tclsh
tcltest
tclvars
tcopy
tcpdump
tcpslice
tcsh
tee
tell
telltc
telnet
term
termcap
terminfo
test
texindex
texinfo
text
textdomain
tfmtodit
tftp
then
threads
time
tip
tk
tkerror
tkvars
tkwait
tlsmgr
tmac
top
toplevel
touch
tput
tr
trace
trafshow
trap
troff
true
truncate
truss
tset
tsort
tty
ttys
type
tzfile
ui
ul
ulimit
umask
unalias
uname
uncomplete
uncompress
undelete
unexpand
unhash
unifdef
unifdefall
uniq
units
unknown
unlimit
unlink
unmount
unset
unsetenv
until
unvis
update
uplevel
uptime
upvar
usbhidaction
usbhidctl
users
utf8
utimes
utmp
utrace
uudecode
uuencode
uuidgen
vacation
variable
verify
version
vfork
vgrind
vgrindefs
vi
vidcontrol
vidfont
view
virtual
vis
vt220keys
vwait
w
wait
wait3
wait4
waitpid
wall
wc
wget
what
whatis
where
whereis
which
while
who
whoami
whois
window
winfo
wish
wm
write
writev
wtmp
x509
xargs
xgettext
xmlwf
xstr
xsubpp
yacc
yes
ypcat
ypchfn
ypchpass
ypchsh
ypmatch
yppasswd
ypwhich
yyfix
zcat
zcmp
zdiff
zegrep
zfgrep
zforce
zgrep
zmore
znew
_exit
__syscall
 
FreeBSD/Linux/UNIX General Commands Manual
Hypertext Man Pages
perlsub
 
PERLSUB(1)	       Perl Programmers Reference Guide 	    PERLSUB(1)



NAME
       perlsub - Perl subroutines

SYNOPSIS
       To declare subroutines:

	   sub NAME;			 # A "forward" declaration.
	   sub NAME(PROTO);		 #  ditto, but with prototypes
	   sub NAME : ATTRS;		 #  with attributes
	   sub NAME(PROTO) : ATTRS;	 #  with attributes and prototypes

	   sub NAME BLOCK		 # A declaration and a definition.
	   sub NAME(PROTO) BLOCK	 #  ditto, but with prototypes
	   sub NAME : ATTRS BLOCK	 #  with attributes
	   sub NAME(PROTO) : ATTRS BLOCK #  with prototypes and attributes

       To define an anonymous subroutine at runtime:

	   $subref = sub BLOCK; 		# no proto
	   $subref = sub (PROTO) BLOCK; 	# with proto
	   $subref = sub : ATTRS BLOCK; 	# with attributes
	   $subref = sub (PROTO) : ATTRS BLOCK; # with proto and attributes

       To import subroutines:

	   use MODULE qw(NAME1 NAME2 NAME3);

       To call subroutines:

	   NAME(LIST);	  # & is optional with parentheses.
	   NAME LIST;	  # Parentheses optional if predeclared/imported.
	   &NAME(LIST);   # Circumvent prototypes.
	   &NAME;	  # Makes current @_ visible to called subroutine.

DESCRIPTION
       Like many languages, Perl provides for user-defined subroutines.  These
       may be located anywhere in the main program, loaded in from other files
       via the "do", "require", or "use" keywords, or generated on the fly
       using "eval" or anonymous subroutines.  You can even call a function
       indirectly using a variable containing its name or a CODE reference.

       The Perl model for function call and return values is simple: all func-
       tions are passed as parameters one single flat list of scalars, and all
       functions likewise return to their caller one single flat list of
       scalars.  Any arrays or hashes in these call and return lists will col-
       lapse, losing their identities--but you may always use pass-by-refer-
       ence instead to avoid this.  Both call and return lists may contain as
       many or as few scalar elements as you'd like.  (Often a function with-
       out an explicit return statement is called a subroutine, but there's
       really no difference from Perl's perspective.)

       Any arguments passed in show up in the array @_.  Therefore, if you
       called a function with two arguments, those would be stored in $_[0]
       and $_[1].  The array @_ is a local array, but its elements are aliases
       for the actual scalar parameters.  In particular, if an element $_[0]
       is updated, the corresponding argument is updated (or an error occurs
       if it is not updatable).  If an argument is an array or hash element
       which did not exist when the function was called, that element is cre-
       ated only when (and if) it is modified or a reference to it is taken.
       (Some earlier versions of Perl created the element whether or not the
       element was assigned to.)  Assigning to the whole array @_ removes that
       aliasing, and does not update any arguments.

       A "return" statement may be used to exit a subroutine, optionally spec-
       ifying the returned value, which will be evaluated in the appropriate
       context (list, scalar, or void) depending on the context of the subrou-
       tine call.  If you specify no return value, the subroutine returns an
       empty list in list context, the undefined value in scalar context, or
       nothing in void context.  If you return one or more aggregates (arrays
       and hashes), these will be flattened together into one large indistin-
       guishable list.

       If no "return" is found and if the last statement is an expression, its
       value is returned. If the last statement is a loop control structure
       like a "foreach" or a "while", the returned value is unspecified. The
       empty sub returns the empty list.

       Perl does not have named formal parameters.  In practice all you do is
       assign to a "my()" list of these.  Variables that aren't declared to be
       private are global variables.  For gory details on creating private
       variables, see "Private Variables via my()" and "Temporary Values via
       local()".  To create protected environments for a set of functions in a
       separate package (and probably a separate file), see "Packages" in
       perlmod.

       Example:

	   sub max {
	       my $max = shift(@_);
	       foreach $foo (@_) {
		   $max = $foo if $max < $foo;
	       }
	       return $max;
	   }
	   $bestday = max($mon,$tue,$wed,$thu,$fri);

       Example:

	   # get a line, combining continuation lines
	   #  that start with whitespace

	   sub get_line {
	       $thisline = $lookahead;	# global variables!
	       LINE: while (defined($lookahead = )) {
		   if ($lookahead =~ /^[ \t]/) {
		       $thisline .= $lookahead;
		   }
		   else {
		       last LINE;
		   }
	       }
	       return $thisline;
	   }

	   $lookahead = ;       # get first line
	   while (defined($line = get_line())) {
	       ...
	   }

       Assigning to a list of private variables to name your arguments:

	   sub maybeset {
	       my($key, $value) = @_;
	       $Foo{$key} = $value unless $Foo{$key};
	   }

       Because the assignment copies the values, this also has the effect of
       turning call-by-reference into call-by-value.  Otherwise a function is
       free to do in-place modifications of @_ and change its caller's values.

	   upcase_in($v1, $v2);  # this changes $v1 and $v2
	   sub upcase_in {
	       for (@_) { tr/a-z/A-Z/ }
	   }

       You aren't allowed to modify constants in this way, of course.  If an
       argument were actually literal and you tried to change it, you'd take a
       (presumably fatal) exception.   For example, this won't work:

	   upcase_in("frederick");

       It would be much safer if the "upcase_in()" function were written to
       return a copy of its parameters instead of changing them in place:

	   ($v3, $v4) = upcase($v1, $v2);  # this doesn't change $v1 and $v2
	   sub upcase {
	       return unless defined wantarray;  # void context, do nothing
	       my @parms = @_;
	       for (@parms) { tr/a-z/A-Z/ }
	       return wantarray ? @parms : $parms[0];
	   }

       Notice how this (unprototyped) function doesn't care whether it was
       passed real scalars or arrays.  Perl sees all arguments as one big,
       long, flat parameter list in @_.  This is one area where Perl's simple
       argument-passing style shines.  The "upcase()" function would work per-
       fectly well without changing the "upcase()" definition even if we fed
       it things like this:

	   @newlist   = upcase(@list1, @list2);
	   @newlist   = upcase( split /:/, $var );

       Do not, however, be tempted to do this:

	   (@a, @b)   = upcase(@list1, @list2);

       Like the flattened incoming parameter list, the return list is also
       flattened on return.  So all you have managed to do here is stored
       everything in @a and made @b empty.  See "Pass by Reference" for alter-
       natives.

       A subroutine may be called using an explicit "&" prefix.  The "&" is
       optional in modern Perl, as are parentheses if the subroutine has been
       predeclared.  The "&" is not optional when just naming the subroutine,
       such as when it's used as an argument to defined() or undef().  Nor is
       it optional when you want to do an indirect subroutine call with a sub-
       routine name or reference using the "&$subref()" or "&{$subref}()" con-
       structs, although the "$subref->()" notation solves that problem.  See
       perlref for more about all that.

       Subroutines may be called recursively.  If a subroutine is called using
       the "&" form, the argument list is optional, and if omitted, no @_
       array is set up for the subroutine: the @_ array at the time of the
       call is visible to subroutine instead.  This is an efficiency mechanism
       that new users may wish to avoid.

	   &foo(1,2,3);        # pass three arguments
	   foo(1,2,3);	       # the same

	   foo();	       # pass a null list
	   &foo();	       # the same

	   &foo;	       # foo() get current args, like foo(@_) !!
	   foo; 	       # like foo() IFF sub foo predeclared, else "foo"

       Not only does the "&" form make the argument list optional, it also
       disables any prototype checking on arguments you do provide.  This is
       partly for historical reasons, and partly for having a convenient way
       to cheat if you know what you're doing.	See Prototypes below.

       Subroutines whose names are in all upper case are reserved to the Perl
       core, as are modules whose names are in all lower case.	A subroutine
       in all capitals is a loosely-held convention meaning it will be called
       indirectly by the run-time system itself, usually due to a triggered
       event.  Subroutines that do special, pre-defined things include
       "AUTOLOAD", "CLONE", "DESTROY" plus all functions mentioned in perltie
       and PerlIO::via.

       The "BEGIN", "CHECK", "INIT" and "END" subroutines are not so much sub-
       routines as named special code blocks, of which you can have more than
       one in a package, and which you can not call explicitly.  See "BEGIN,
       CHECK, INIT and END" in perlmod

       Private Variables via my()

       Synopsis:

	   my $foo;	       # declare $foo lexically local
	   my (@wid, %get);    # declare list of variables local
	   my $foo = "flurp";  # declare $foo lexical, and init it
	   my @oof = @bar;     # declare @oof lexical, and init it
	   my $x : Foo = $y;   # similar, with an attribute applied

       WARNING: The use of attribute lists on "my" declarations is still
       evolving.  The current semantics and interface are subject to change.
       See attributes and Attribute::Handlers.

       The "my" operator declares the listed variables to be lexically con-
       fined to the enclosing block, conditional ("if/unless/elsif/else"),
       loop ("for/foreach/while/until/continue"), subroutine, "eval", or
       "do/require/use"'d file.  If more than one value is listed, the list
       must be placed in parentheses.  All listed elements must be legal lval-
       ues.  Only alphanumeric identifiers may be lexically scoped--magical
       built-ins like $/ must currently be "local"ized with "local" instead.

       Unlike dynamic variables created by the "local" operator, lexical vari-
       ables declared with "my" are totally hidden from the outside world,
       including any called subroutines.  This is true if it's the same sub-
       routine called from itself or elsewhere--every call gets its own copy.

       This doesn't mean that a "my" variable declared in a statically enclos-
       ing lexical scope would be invisible.  Only dynamic scopes are cut off.
       For example, the "bumpx()" function below has access to the lexical $x
       variable because both the "my" and the "sub" occurred at the same
       scope, presumably file scope.

	   my $x = 10;
	   sub bumpx { $x++ }

       An "eval()", however, can see lexical variables of the scope it is
       being evaluated in, so long as the names aren't hidden by declarations
       within the "eval()" itself.  See perlref.

       The parameter list to my() may be assigned to if desired, which allows
       you to initialize your variables.  (If no initializer is given for a
       particular variable, it is created with the undefined value.)  Commonly
       this is used to name input parameters to a subroutine.  Examples:

	   $arg = "fred";	 # "global" variable
	   $n = cube_root(27);
	   print "$arg thinks the root is $n\n";
	fred thinks the root is 3

	   sub cube_root {
	       my $arg = shift;  # name doesn't matter
	       $arg **= 1/3;
	       return $arg;
	   }

       The "my" is simply a modifier on something you might assign to.	So
       when you do assign to variables in its argument list, "my" doesn't
       change whether those variables are viewed as a scalar or an array.  So

	   my ($foo) = ; 	       # WRONG?
	   my @FOO = ;

       both supply a list context to the right-hand side, while

	   my $foo = ;

       supplies a scalar context.  But the following declares only one vari-
       able:

	   my $foo, $bar = 1;		       # WRONG

       That has the same effect as

	   my $foo;
	   $bar = 1;

       The declared variable is not introduced (is not visible) until after
       the current statement.  Thus,

	   my $x = $x;

       can be used to initialize a new $x with the value of the old $x, and
       the expression

	   my $x = 123 and $x == 123

       is false unless the old $x happened to have the value 123.

       Lexical scopes of control structures are not bounded precisely by the
       braces that delimit their controlled blocks; control expressions are
       part of that scope, too.  Thus in the loop

	   while (my $line = <>) {
	       $line = lc $line;
	   } continue {
	       print $line;
	   }

       the scope of $line extends from its declaration throughout the rest of
       the loop construct (including the "continue" clause), but not beyond
       it.  Similarly, in the conditional

	   if ((my $answer = ) =~ /^yes$/i) {
	       user_agrees();
	   } elsif ($answer =~ /^no$/i) {
	       user_disagrees();
	   } else {
	       chomp $answer;
	       die "'$answer' is neither 'yes' nor 'no'";
	   }

       the scope of $answer extends from its declaration through the rest of
       that conditional, including any "elsif" and "else" clauses, but not
       beyond it.  See "Simple statements" in perlsyn for information on the
       scope of variables in statements with modifiers.

       The "foreach" loop defaults to scoping its index variable dynamically
       in the manner of "local".  However, if the index variable is prefixed
       with the keyword "my", or if there is already a lexical by that name in
       scope, then a new lexical is created instead.  Thus in the loop

	   for my $i (1, 2, 3) {
	       some_function();
	   }

       the scope of $i extends to the end of the loop, but not beyond it, ren-
       dering the value of $i inaccessible within "some_function()".

       Some users may wish to encourage the use of lexically scoped variables.
       As an aid to catching implicit uses to package variables, which are
       always global, if you say

	   use strict 'vars';

       then any variable mentioned from there to the end of the enclosing
       block must either refer to a lexical variable, be predeclared via "our"
       or "use vars", or else must be fully qualified with the package name.
       A compilation error results otherwise.  An inner block may countermand
       this with "no strict 'vars'".

       A "my" has both a compile-time and a run-time effect.  At compile time,
       the compiler takes notice of it.  The principal usefulness of this is
       to quiet "use strict 'vars'", but it is also essential for generation
       of closures as detailed in perlref.  Actual initialization is delayed
       until run time, though, so it gets executed at the appropriate time,
       such as each time through a loop, for example.

       Variables declared with "my" are not part of any package and are there-
       fore never fully qualified with the package name.  In particular,
       you're not allowed to try to make a package variable (or other global)
       lexical:

	   my $pack::var;      # ERROR!  Illegal syntax
	   my $_;	       # also illegal (currently)

       In fact, a dynamic variable (also known as package or global variables)
       are still accessible using the fully qualified "::" notation even while
       a lexical of the same name is also visible:

	   package main;
	   local $x = 10;
	   my	 $x = 20;
	   print "$x and $::x\n";

       That will print out 20 and 10.

       You may declare "my" variables at the outermost scope of a file to hide
       any such identifiers from the world outside that file.  This is similar
       in spirit to C's static variables when they are used at the file level.
       To do this with a subroutine requires the use of a closure (an anony-
       mous function that accesses enclosing lexicals).  If you want to create
       a private subroutine that cannot be called from outside that block, it
       can declare a lexical variable containing an anonymous sub reference:

	   my $secret_version = '1.001-beta';
	   my $secret_sub = sub { print $secret_version };
	   &$secret_sub();

       As long as the reference is never returned by any function within the
       module, no outside module can see the subroutine, because its name is
       not in any package's symbol table.  Remember that it's not REALLY
       called $some_pack::secret_version or anything; it's just $secret_ver-
       sion, unqualified and unqualifiable.

       This does not work with object methods, however; all object methods
       have to be in the symbol table of some package to be found.  See "Func-
       tion Templates" in perlref for something of a work-around to this.

       Persistent Private Variables

       Just because a lexical variable is lexically (also called statically)
       scoped to its enclosing block, "eval", or "do" FILE, this doesn't mean
       that within a function it works like a C static.  It normally works
       more like a C auto, but with implicit garbage collection.

       Unlike local variables in C or C++, Perl's lexical variables don't nec-
       essarily get recycled just because their scope has exited.  If some-
       thing more permanent is still aware of the lexical, it will stick
       around.	So long as something else references a lexical, that lexical
       won't be freed--which is as it should be.  You wouldn't want memory
       being free until you were done using it, or kept around once you were
       done.  Automatic garbage collection takes care of this for you.

       This means that you can pass back or save away references to lexical
       variables, whereas to return a pointer to a C auto is a grave error.
       It also gives us a way to simulate C's function statics.  Here's a
       mechanism for giving a function private variables with both lexical
       scoping and a static lifetime.  If you do want to create something like
       C's static variables, just enclose the whole function in an extra
       block, and put the static variable outside the function but in the
       block.

	   {
	       my $secret_val = 0;
	       sub gimme_another {
		   return ++$secret_val;
	       }
	   }
	   # $secret_val now becomes unreachable by the outside
	   # world, but retains its value between calls to gimme_another

       If this function is being sourced in from a separate file via "require"
       or "use", then this is probably just fine.  If it's all in the main
       program, you'll need to arrange for the "my" to be executed early,
       either by putting the whole block above your main program, or more
       likely, placing merely a "BEGIN" code block around it to make sure it
       gets executed before your program starts to run:

	   BEGIN {
	       my $secret_val = 0;
	       sub gimme_another {
		   return ++$secret_val;
	       }
	   }

       See "BEGIN, CHECK, INIT and END" in perlmod about the special triggered
       code blocks, "BEGIN", "CHECK", "INIT" and "END".

       If declared at the outermost scope (the file scope), then lexicals work
       somewhat like C's file statics.	They are available to all functions in
       that same file declared below them, but are inaccessible from outside
       that file.  This strategy is sometimes used in modules to create pri-
       vate variables that the whole module can see.

       Temporary Values via local()

       WARNING: In general, you should be using "my" instead of "local",
       because it's faster and safer.  Exceptions to this include the global
       punctuation variables, global filehandles and formats, and direct
       manipulation of the Perl symbol table itself.  "local" is mostly used
       when the current value of a variable must be visible to called subrou-
       tines.

       Synopsis:

	   # localization of values

	   local $foo;		       # make $foo dynamically local
	   local (@wid, %get);	       # make list of variables local
	   local $foo = "flurp";       # make $foo dynamic, and init it
	   local @oof = @bar;	       # make @oof dynamic, and init it

	   local $hash{key} = "val";   # sets a local value for this hash entry
	   local ($cond ? $v1 : $v2);  # several types of lvalues support
				       # localization

	   # localization of symbols

	   local *FH;		       # localize $FH, @FH, %FH, &FH  ...
	   local *merlyn = *randal;    # now $merlyn is really $randal, plus
				       #     @merlyn is really @randal, etc
	   local *merlyn = 'randal';   # SAME THING: promote 'randal' to *randal
	   local *merlyn = \$randal;   # just alias $merlyn, not @merlyn etc

       A "local" modifies its listed variables to be "local" to the enclosing
       block, "eval", or "do FILE"--and to any subroutine called from within
       that block.  A "local" just gives temporary values to global (meaning
       package) variables.  It does not create a local variable.  This is
       known as dynamic scoping.  Lexical scoping is done with "my", which
       works more like C's auto declarations.

       Some types of lvalues can be localized as well : hash and array ele-
       ments and slices, conditionals (provided that their result is always
       localizable), and symbolic references.  As for simple variables, this
       creates new, dynamically scoped values.

       If more than one variable or expression is given to "local", they must
       be placed in parentheses.  This operator works by saving the current
       values of those variables in its argument list on a hidden stack and
       restoring them upon exiting the block, subroutine, or eval.  This means
       that called subroutines can also reference the local variable, but not
       the global one.	The argument list may be assigned to if desired, which
       allows you to initialize your local variables.  (If no initializer is
       given for a particular variable, it is created with an undefined
       value.)

       Because "local" is a run-time operator, it gets executed each time
       through a loop.	Consequently, it's more efficient to localize your
       variables outside the loop.

       Grammatical note on local()

       A "local" is simply a modifier on an lvalue expression.	When you
       assign to a "local"ized variable, the "local" doesn't change whether
       its list is viewed as a scalar or an array.  So

	   local($foo) = ;
	   local @FOO = ;

       both supply a list context to the right-hand side, while

	   local $foo = ;

       supplies a scalar context.

       Localization of special variables

       If you localize a special variable, you'll be giving a new value to it,
       but its magic won't go away.  That means that all side-effects related
       to this magic still work with the localized value.

       This feature allows code like this to work :

	   # Read the whole contents of FILE in $slurp
	   { local $/ = undef; $slurp = ; }

       Note, however, that this restricts localization of some values ; for
       example, the following statement dies, as of perl 5.9.0, with an error
       Modification of a read-only value attempted, because the $1 variable is
       magical and read-only :

	   local $1 = 2;

       Similarly, but in a way more difficult to spot, the following snippet
       will die in perl 5.9.0 :

	   sub f { local $_ = "foo"; print }
	   for ($1) {
	       # now $_ is aliased to $1, thus is magic and readonly
	       f();
	   }

       See next section for an alternative to this situation.

       WARNING: Localization of tied arrays and hashes does not currently work
       as described.  This will be fixed in a future release of Perl; in the
       meantime, avoid code that relies on any particular behaviour of local-
       ising tied arrays or hashes (localising individual elements is still
       okay).  See "Localising Tied Arrays and Hashes Is Broken" in
       perl58delta for more details.

       Localization of globs

       The construct

	   local *name;

       creates a whole new symbol table entry for the glob "name" in the cur-
       rent package.  That means that all variables in its glob slot ($name,
       @name, %name, &name, and the "name" filehandle) are dynamically reset.

       This implies, among other things, that any magic eventually carried by
       those variables is locally lost.  In other words, saying "local */"
       will not have any effect on the internal value of the input record sep-
       arator.

       Notably, if you want to work with a brand new value of the default
       scalar $_, and avoid the potential problem listed above about $_ previ-
       ously carrying a magic value, you should use "local *_" instead of
       "local $_".

       Localization of elements of composite types

       It's also worth taking a moment to explain what happens when you
       "local"ize a member of a composite type (i.e. an array or hash ele-
       ment).  In this case, the element is "local"ized by name. This means
       that when the scope of the "local()" ends, the saved value will be
       restored to the hash element whose key was named in the "local()", or
       the array element whose index was named in the "local()".  If that ele-
       ment was deleted while the "local()" was in effect (e.g. by a
       "delete()" from a hash or a "shift()" of an array), it will spring back
       into existence, possibly extending an array and filling in the skipped
       elements with "undef".  For instance, if you say

	   %hash = ( 'This' => 'is', 'a' => 'test' );
	   @ary  = ( 0..5 );
	   {
		local($ary[5]) = 6;
		local($hash{'a'}) = 'drill';
		while (my $e = pop(@ary)) {
		    print "$e . . .\n";
		    last unless $e > 3;
		}
		if (@ary) {
		    $hash{'only a'} = 'test';
		    delete $hash{'a'};
		}
	   }
	   print join(' ', map { "$_ $hash{$_}" } sort keys %hash),".\n";
	   print "The array has ",scalar(@ary)," elements: ",
		 join(', ', map { defined $_ ? $_ : 'undef' } @ary),"\n";

       Perl will print

	   6 . . .
	   4 . . .
	   3 . . .
	   This is a test only a test.
	   The array has 6 elements: 0, 1, 2, undef, undef, 5

       The behavior of local() on non-existent members of composite types is
       subject to change in future.

       Lvalue subroutines

       WARNING: Lvalue subroutines are still experimental and the implementa-
       tion may change in future versions of Perl.

       It is possible to return a modifiable value from a subroutine.  To do
       this, you have to declare the subroutine to return an lvalue.

	   my $val;
	   sub canmod : lvalue {
	       # return $val; this doesn't work, don't say "return"
	       $val;
	   }
	   sub nomod {
	       $val;
	   }

	   canmod() = 5;   # assigns to $val
	   nomod()  = 5;   # ERROR

       The scalar/list context for the subroutine and for the right-hand side
       of assignment is determined as if the subroutine call is replaced by a
       scalar. For example, consider:

	   data(2,3) = get_data(3,4);

       Both subroutines here are called in a scalar context, while in:

	   (data(2,3)) = get_data(3,4);

       and in:

	   (data(2),data(3)) = get_data(3,4);

       all the subroutines are called in a list context.

       Lvalue subroutines are EXPERIMENTAL
	   They appear to be convenient, but there are several reasons to be
	   circumspect.

	   You can't use the return keyword, you must pass out the value
	   before falling out of subroutine scope. (see comment in example
	   above).  This is usually not a problem, but it disallows an
	   explicit return out of a deeply nested loop, which is sometimes a
	   nice way out.

	   They violate encapsulation.	A normal mutator can check the sup-
	   plied argument before setting the attribute it is protecting, an
	   lvalue subroutine never gets that chance.  Consider;

	       my $some_array_ref = [];    # protected by mutators ??

	       sub set_arr {		   # normal mutator
		   my $val = shift;
		   die("expected array, you supplied ", ref $val)
		      unless ref $val eq 'ARRAY';
		   $some_array_ref = $val;
	       }
	       sub set_arr_lv : lvalue {   # lvalue mutator
		   $some_array_ref;
	       }

	       # set_arr_lv cannot stop this !
	       set_arr_lv() = { a => 1 };

       Passing Symbol Table Entries (typeglobs)

       WARNING: The mechanism described in this section was originally the
       only way to simulate pass-by-reference in older versions of Perl.
       While it still works fine in modern versions, the new reference mecha-
       nism is generally easier to work with.  See below.

       Sometimes you don't want to pass the value of an array to a subroutine
       but rather the name of it, so that the subroutine can modify the global
       copy of it rather than working with a local copy.  In perl you can
       refer to all objects of a particular name by prefixing the name with a
       star: *foo.  This is often known as a "typeglob", because the star on
       the front can be thought of as a wildcard match for all the funny pre-
       fix characters on variables and subroutines and such.

       When evaluated, the typeglob produces a scalar value that represents
       all the objects of that name, including any filehandle, format, or sub-
       routine.  When assigned to, it causes the name mentioned to refer to
       whatever "*" value was assigned to it.  Example:

	   sub doubleary {
	       local(*someary) = @_;
	       foreach $elem (@someary) {
		   $elem *= 2;
	       }
	   }
	   doubleary(*foo);
	   doubleary(*bar);

       Scalars are already passed by reference, so you can modify scalar argu-
       ments without using this mechanism by referring explicitly to $_[0]
       etc.  You can modify all the elements of an array by passing all the
       elements as scalars, but you have to use the "*" mechanism (or the
       equivalent reference mechanism) to "push", "pop", or change the size of
       an array.  It will certainly be faster to pass the typeglob (or refer-
       ence).

       Even if you don't want to modify an array, this mechanism is useful for
       passing multiple arrays in a single LIST, because normally the LIST
       mechanism will merge all the array values so that you can't extract out
       the individual arrays.  For more on typeglobs, see "Typeglobs and File-
       handles" in perldata.

       When to Still Use local()

       Despite the existence of "my", there are still three places where the
       "local" operator still shines.  In fact, in these three places, you
       must use "local" instead of "my".

       1.  You need to give a global variable a temporary value, especially
	   $_.

	   The global variables, like @ARGV or the punctuation variables, must
	   be "local"ized with "local()".  This block reads in /etc/motd, and
	   splits it up into chunks separated by lines of equal signs, which
	   are placed in @Fields.

	       {
		   local @ARGV = ("/etc/motd");
		   local $/ = undef;
		   local $_ = <>;
		   @Fields = split /^\s*=+\s*$/;
	       }

	   It particular, it's important to "local"ize $_ in any routine that
	   assigns to it.  Look out for implicit assignments in "while" condi-
	   tionals.

       2.  You need to create a local file or directory handle or a local
	   function.

	   A function that needs a filehandle of its own must use "local()" on
	   a complete typeglob.   This can be used to create new symbol table
	   entries:

	       sub ioqueue {
		   local  (*READER, *WRITER);	 # not my!
		   pipe    (READER,  WRITER)	 or die "pipe: $!";
		   return (*READER, *WRITER);
	       }
	       ($head, $tail) = ioqueue();

	   See the Symbol module for a way to create anonymous symbol table
	   entries.

	   Because assignment of a reference to a typeglob creates an alias,
	   this can be used to create what is effectively a local function, or
	   at least, a local alias.

	       {
		   local *grow = \&shrink; # only until this block exists
		   grow();		   # really calls shrink()
		   move();		   # if move() grow()s, it shrink()s too
	       }
	       grow();			   # get the real grow() again

	   See "Function Templates" in perlref for more about manipulating
	   functions by name in this way.

       3.  You want to temporarily change just one element of an array or
	   hash.

	   You can "local"ize just one element of an aggregate.  Usually this
	   is done on dynamics:

	       {
		   local $SIG{INT} = 'IGNORE';
		   funct();			       # uninterruptible
	       }
	       # interruptibility automatically restored here

	   But it also works on lexically declared aggregates.	Prior to
	   5.005, this operation could on occasion misbehave.

       Pass by Reference

       If you want to pass more than one array or hash into a function--or
       return them from it--and have them maintain their integrity, then
       you're going to have to use an explicit pass-by-reference.  Before you
       do that, you need to understand references as detailed in perlref.
       This section may not make much sense to you otherwise.

       Here are a few simple examples.	First, let's pass in several arrays to
       a function and have it "pop" all of then, returning a new list of all
       their former last elements:

	   @tailings = popmany ( \@a, \@b, \@c, \@d );

	   sub popmany {
	       my $aref;
	       my @retlist = ();
	       foreach $aref ( @_ ) {
		   push @retlist, pop @$aref;
	       }
	       return @retlist;
	   }

       Here's how you might write a function that returns a list of keys
       occurring in all the hashes passed to it:

	   @common = inter( \%foo, \%bar, \%joe );
	   sub inter {
	       my ($k, $href, %seen); # locals
	       foreach $href (@_) {
		   while ( $k = each %$href ) {
		       $seen{$k}++;
		   }
	       }
	       return grep { $seen{$_} == @_ } keys %seen;
	   }

       So far, we're using just the normal list return mechanism.  What hap-
       pens if you want to pass or return a hash?  Well, if you're using only
       one of them, or you don't mind them concatenating, then the normal
       calling convention is ok, although a little expensive.

       Where people get into trouble is here:

	   (@a, @b) = func(@c, @d);
       or
	   (%a, %b) = func(%c, %d);

       That syntax simply won't work.  It sets just @a or %a and clears the @b
       or %b.  Plus the function didn't get passed into two separate arrays or
       hashes: it got one long list in @_, as always.

       If you can arrange for everyone to deal with this through references,
       it's cleaner code, although not so nice to look at.  Here's a function
       that takes two array references as arguments, returning the two array
       elements in order of how many elements they have in them:

	   ($aref, $bref) = func(\@c, \@d);
	   print "@$aref has more than @$bref\n";
	   sub func {
	       my ($cref, $dref) = @_;
	       if (@$cref > @$dref) {
		   return ($cref, $dref);
	       } else {
		   return ($dref, $cref);
	       }
	   }

       It turns out that you can actually do this also:

	   (*a, *b) = func(\@c, \@d);
	   print "@a has more than @b\n";
	   sub func {
	       local (*c, *d) = @_;
	       if (@c > @d) {
		   return (\@c, \@d);
	       } else {
		   return (\@d, \@c);
	       }
	   }

       Here we're using the typeglobs to do symbol table aliasing.  It's a tad
       subtle, though, and also won't work if you're using "my" variables,
       because only globals (even in disguise as "local"s) are in the symbol
       table.

       If you're passing around filehandles, you could usually just use the
       bare typeglob, like *STDOUT, but typeglobs references work, too.  For
       example:

	   splutter(\*STDOUT);
	   sub splutter {
	       my $fh = shift;
	       print $fh "her um well a hmmm\n";
	   }

	   $rec = get_rec(\*STDIN);
	   sub get_rec {
	       my $fh = shift;
	       return scalar <$fh>;
	   }

       If you're planning on generating new filehandles, you could do this.
       Notice to pass back just the bare *FH, not its reference.

	   sub openit {
	       my $path = shift;
	       local *FH;
	       return open (FH, $path) ? *FH : undef;
	   }

       Prototypes

       Perl supports a very limited kind of compile-time argument checking
       using function prototyping.  If you declare

	   sub mypush (\@@)

       then "mypush()" takes arguments exactly like "push()" does.  The func-
       tion declaration must be visible at compile time.  The prototype
       affects only interpretation of new-style calls to the function, where
       new-style is defined as not using the "&" character.  In other words,
       if you call it like a built-in function, then it behaves like a built-
       in function.  If you call it like an old-fashioned subroutine, then it
       behaves like an old-fashioned subroutine.  It naturally falls out from
       this rule that prototypes have no influence on subroutine references
       like "\&foo" or on indirect subroutine calls like "&{$subref}" or
       "$subref->()".

       Method calls are not influenced by prototypes either, because the func-
       tion to be called is indeterminate at compile time, since the exact
       code called depends on inheritance.

       Because the intent of this feature is primarily to let you define sub-
       routines that work like built-in functions, here are prototypes for
       some other functions that parse almost exactly like the corresponding
       built-in.

	   Declared as		       Called as

	   sub mylink ($$)	    mylink $old, $new
	   sub myvec ($$$)	    myvec $var, $offset, 1
	   sub myindex ($$;$)	    myindex &getstring, "substr"
	   sub mysyswrite ($$$;$)   mysyswrite $buf, 0, length($buf) - $off, $off
	   sub myreverse (@)	    myreverse $a, $b, $c
	   sub myjoin ($@)	    myjoin ":", $a, $b, $c
	   sub mypop (\@)	    mypop @array
	   sub mysplice (\@$$@)     mysplice @array, @array, 0, @pushme
	   sub mykeys (\%)	    mykeys %{$hashref}
	   sub myopen (*;$)	    myopen HANDLE, $name
	   sub mypipe (**)	    mypipe READHANDLE, WRITEHANDLE
	   sub mygrep (&@)	    mygrep { /foo/ } $a, $b, $c
	   sub myrand ($)	    myrand 42
	   sub mytime ()	    mytime

       Any backslashed prototype character represents an actual argument that
       absolutely must start with that character.  The value passed as part of
       @_ will be a reference to the actual argument given in the subroutine
       call, obtained by applying "\" to that argument.

       You can also backslash several argument types simultaneously by using
       the "\[]" notation:

	   sub myref (\[$@%&*])

       will allow calling myref() as

	   myref $var
	   myref @array
	   myref %hash
	   myref &sub
	   myref *glob

       and the first argument of myref() will be a reference to a scalar, an
       array, a hash, a code, or a glob.

       Unbackslashed prototype characters have special meanings.  Any unback-
       slashed "@" or "%" eats all remaining arguments, and forces list con-
       text.  An argument represented by "$" forces scalar context.  An "&"
       requires an anonymous subroutine, which, if passed as the first argu-
       ment, does not require the "sub" keyword or a subsequent comma.

       A "*" allows the subroutine to accept a bareword, constant, scalar
       expression, typeglob, or a reference to a typeglob in that slot.  The
       value will be available to the subroutine either as a simple scalar, or
       (in the latter two cases) as a reference to the typeglob.  If you wish
       to always convert such arguments to a typeglob reference, use Sym-
       bol::qualify_to_ref() as follows:

	   use Symbol 'qualify_to_ref';

	   sub foo (*) {
	       my $fh = qualify_to_ref(shift, caller);
	       ...
	   }

       A semicolon separates mandatory arguments from optional arguments.  It
       is redundant before "@" or "%", which gobble up everything else.

       Note how the last three examples in the table above are treated spe-
       cially by the parser.  "mygrep()" is parsed as a true list operator,
       "myrand()" is parsed as a true unary operator with unary precedence the
       same as "rand()", and "mytime()" is truly without arguments, just like
       "time()".  That is, if you say

	   mytime +2;

       you'll get "mytime() + 2", not mytime(2), which is how it would be
       parsed without a prototype.

       The interesting thing about "&" is that you can generate new syntax
       with it, provided it's in the initial position:

	   sub try (&@) {
	       my($try,$catch) = @_;
	       eval { &$try };
	       if ($@) {
		   local $_ = $@;
		   &$catch;
	       }
	   }
	   sub catch (&) { $_[0] }

	   try {
	       die "phooey";
	   } catch {
	       /phooey/ and print "unphooey\n";
	   };

       That prints "unphooey".	(Yes, there are still unresolved issues having
       to do with visibility of @_.  I'm ignoring that question for the
       moment.	(But note that if we make @_ lexically scoped, those anonymous
       subroutines can act like closures... (Gee, is this sounding a little
       Lispish?  (Never mind.))))

       And here's a reimplementation of the Perl "grep" operator:

	   sub mygrep (&@) {
	       my $code = shift;
	       my @result;
	       foreach $_ (@_) {
		   push(@result, $_) if &$code;
	       }
	       @result;
	   }

       Some folks would prefer full alphanumeric prototypes.  Alphanumerics
       have been intentionally left out of prototypes for the express purpose
       of someday in the future adding named, formal parameters.  The current
       mechanism's main goal is to let module writers provide better diagnos-
       tics for module users.  Larry feels the notation quite understandable
       to Perl programmers, and that it will not intrude greatly upon the meat
       of the module, nor make it harder to read.  The line noise is visually
       encapsulated into a small pill that's easy to swallow.

       If you try to use an alphanumeric sequence in a prototype you will gen-
       erate an optional warning - "Illegal character in prototype...".
       Unfortunately earlier versions of Perl allowed the prototype to be used
       as long as its prefix was a valid prototype.  The warning may be
       upgraded to a fatal error in a future version of Perl once the majority
       of offending code is fixed.

       It's probably best to prototype new functions, not retrofit prototyping
       into older ones.  That's because you must be especially careful about
       silent impositions of differing list versus scalar contexts.  For exam-
       ple, if you decide that a function should take just one parameter, like
       this:

	   sub func ($) {
	       my $n = shift;
	       print "you gave me $n\n";
	   }

       and someone has been calling it with an array or expression returning a
       list:

	   func(@foo);
	   func( split /:/ );

       Then you've just supplied an automatic "scalar" in front of their argu-
       ment, which can be more than a bit surprising.  The old @foo which used
       to hold one thing doesn't get passed in.  Instead, "func()" now gets
       passed in a 1; that is, the number of elements in @foo.	And the
       "split" gets called in scalar context so it starts scribbling on your
       @_ parameter list.  Ouch!

       This is all very powerful, of course, and should be used only in moder-
       ation to make the world a better place.

       Constant Functions

       Functions with a prototype of "()" are potential candidates for inlin-
       ing.  If the result after optimization and constant folding is either a
       constant or a lexically-scoped scalar which has no other references,
       then it will be used in place of function calls made without "&".
       Calls made using "&" are never inlined.	(See constant.pm for an easy
       way to declare most constants.)

       The following functions would all be inlined:

	   sub pi ()	       { 3.14159 }	       # Not exact, but close.
	   sub PI ()	       { 4 * atan2 1, 1 }      # As good as it gets,
						       # and it's inlined, too!
	   sub ST_DEV ()       { 0 }
	   sub ST_INO ()       { 1 }

	   sub FLAG_FOO ()     { 1 << 8 }
	   sub FLAG_BAR ()     { 1 << 9 }
	   sub FLAG_MASK ()    { FLAG_FOO | FLAG_BAR }

	   sub OPT_BAZ ()      { not (0x1B58 & FLAG_MASK) }

	   sub N () { int(OPT_BAZ) / 3 }

	   sub FOO_SET () { 1 if FLAG_MASK & FLAG_FOO }

       Be aware that these will not be inlined; as they contain inner scopes,
       the constant folding doesn't reduce them to a single constant:

	   sub foo_set () { if (FLAG_MASK & FLAG_FOO) { 1 } }

	   sub baz_val () {
	       if (OPT_BAZ) {
		   return 23;
	       }
	       else {
		   return 42;
	       }
	   }

       If you redefine a subroutine that was eligible for inlining, you'll get
       a mandatory warning.  (You can use this warning to tell whether or not
       a particular subroutine is considered constant.)  The warning is con-
       sidered severe enough not to be optional because previously compiled
       invocations of the function will still be using the old value of the
       function.  If you need to be able to redefine the subroutine, you need
       to ensure that it isn't inlined, either by dropping the "()" prototype
       (which changes calling semantics, so beware) or by thwarting the inlin-
       ing mechanism in some other way, such as

	   sub not_inlined () {
	       23 if $];
	   }

       Overriding Built-in Functions

       Many built-in functions may be overridden, though this should be tried
       only occasionally and for good reason.  Typically this might be done by
       a package attempting to emulate missing built-in functionality on a
       non-Unix system.

       Overriding may be done only by importing the name from a module at com-
       pile time--ordinary predeclaration isn't good enough.  However, the
       "use subs" pragma lets you, in effect, predeclare subs via the import
       syntax, and these names may then override built-in ones:

	   use subs 'chdir', 'chroot', 'chmod', 'chown';
	   chdir $somewhere;
	   sub chdir { ... }

       To unambiguously refer to the built-in form, precede the built-in name
       with the special package qualifier "CORE::".  For example, saying
       "CORE::open()" always refers to the built-in "open()", even if the cur-
       rent package has imported some other subroutine called "&open()" from
       elsewhere.  Even though it looks like a regular function call, it
       isn't: you can't take a reference to it, such as the incorrect
       "\&CORE::open" might appear to produce.

       Library modules should not in general export built-in names like "open"
       or "chdir" as part of their default @EXPORT list, because these may
       sneak into someone else's namespace and change the semantics unexpect-
       edly.  Instead, if the module adds that name to @EXPORT_OK, then it's
       possible for a user to import the name explicitly, but not implicitly.
       That is, they could say

	   use Module 'open';

       and it would import the "open" override.  But if they said

	   use Module;

       they would get the default imports without overrides.

       The foregoing mechanism for overriding built-in is restricted, quite
       deliberately, to the package that requests the import.  There is a sec-
       ond method that is sometimes applicable when you wish to override a
       built-in everywhere, without regard to namespace boundaries.  This is
       achieved by importing a sub into the special namespace
       "CORE::GLOBAL::".  Here is an example that quite brazenly replaces the
       "glob" operator with something that understands regular expressions.

	   package REGlob;
	   require Exporter;
	   @ISA = 'Exporter';
	   @EXPORT_OK = 'glob';

	   sub import {
	       my $pkg = shift;
	       return unless @_;
	       my $sym = shift;
	       my $where = ($sym =~ s/^GLOBAL_// ? 'CORE::GLOBAL' : caller(0));
	       $pkg->export($where, $sym, @_);
	   }

	   sub glob {
	       my $pat = shift;
	       my @got;
	       local *D;
	       if (opendir D, '.') {
		   @got = grep /$pat/, readdir D;
		   closedir D;
	       }
	       return @got;
	   }
	   1;

       And here's how it could be (ab)used:

	   #use REGlob 'GLOBAL_glob';	   # override glob() in ALL namespaces
	   package Foo;
	   use REGlob 'glob';		   # override glob() in Foo:: only
	   print for <^[a-z_]+\.pm\$>;	   # show all pragmatic modules

       The initial comment shows a contrived, even dangerous example.  By
       overriding "glob" globally, you would be forcing the new (and subver-
       sive) behavior for the "glob" operator for every namespace, without the
       complete cognizance or cooperation of the modules that own those names-
       paces.  Naturally, this should be done with extreme caution--if it must
       be done at all.

       The "REGlob" example above does not implement all the support needed to
       cleanly override perl's "glob" operator.  The built-in "glob" has dif-
       ferent behaviors depending on whether it appears in a scalar or list
       context, but our "REGlob" doesn't.  Indeed, many perl built-in have
       such context sensitive behaviors, and these must be adequately sup-
       ported by a properly written override.  For a fully functional example
       of overriding "glob", study the implementation of "File::DosGlob" in
       the standard library.

       When you override a built-in, your replacement should be consistent (if
       possible) with the built-in native syntax.  You can achieve this by
       using a suitable prototype.  To get the prototype of an overridable
       built-in, use the "prototype" function with an argument of
       "CORE::builtin_name" (see "prototype" in perlfunc).

       Note however that some built-ins can't have their syntax expressed by a
       prototype (such as "system" or "chomp").  If you override them you
       won't be able to fully mimic their original syntax.

       The built-ins "do", "require" and "glob" can also be overridden, but
       due to special magic, their original syntax is preserved, and you don't
       have to define a prototype for their replacements.  (You can't override
       the "do BLOCK" syntax, though).

       "require" has special additional dark magic: if you invoke your
       "require" replacement as "require Foo::Bar", it will actually receive
       the argument "Foo/Bar.pm" in @_.  See "require" in perlfunc.

       And, as you'll have noticed from the previous example, if you override
       "glob", the "<*>" glob operator is overridden as well.

       In a similar fashion, overriding the "readline" function also overrides
       the equivalent I/O operator "".

       Finally, some built-ins (e.g. "exists" or "grep") can't be overridden.

       Autoloading

       If you call a subroutine that is undefined, you would ordinarily get an
       immediate, fatal error complaining that the subroutine doesn't exist.
       (Likewise for subroutines being used as methods, when the method
       doesn't exist in any base class of the class's package.)  However, if
       an "AUTOLOAD" subroutine is defined in the package or packages used to
       locate the original subroutine, then that "AUTOLOAD" subroutine is
       called with the arguments that would have been passed to the original
       subroutine.  The fully qualified name of the original subroutine magi-
       cally appears in the global $AUTOLOAD variable of the same package as
       the "AUTOLOAD" routine.	The name is not passed as an ordinary argument
       because, er, well, just because, that's why...

       Many "AUTOLOAD" routines load in a definition for the requested subrou-
       tine using eval(), then execute that subroutine using a special form of
       goto() that erases the stack frame of the "AUTOLOAD" routine without a
       trace.  (See the source to the standard module documented in
       AutoLoader, for example.)  But an "AUTOLOAD" routine can also just emu-
       late the routine and never define it.   For example, let's pretend that
       a function that wasn't defined should just invoke "system" with those
       arguments.  All you'd do is:

	   sub AUTOLOAD {
	       my $program = $AUTOLOAD;
	       $program =~ s/.*:://;
	       system($program, @_);
	   }
	   date();
	   who('am', 'i');
	   ls('-l');

       In fact, if you predeclare functions you want to call that way, you
       don't even need parentheses:

	   use subs qw(date who ls);
	   date;
	   who "am", "i";
	   ls -l;

       A more complete example of this is the standard Shell module, which can
       treat undefined subroutine calls as calls to external programs.

       Mechanisms are available to help modules writers split their modules
       into autoloadable files.  See the standard AutoLoader module described
       in AutoLoader and in AutoSplit, the standard SelfLoader modules in
       SelfLoader, and the document on adding C functions to Perl code in per-
       lxs.

       Subroutine Attributes

       A subroutine declaration or definition may have a list of attributes
       associated with it.  If such an attribute list is present, it is broken
       up at space or colon boundaries and treated as though a "use
       attributes" had been seen.  See attributes for details about what
       attributes are currently supported.  Unlike the limitation with the
       obsolescent "use attrs", the "sub : ATTRLIST" syntax works to associate
       the attributes with a pre-declaration, and not just with a subroutine
       definition.

       The attributes must be valid as simple identifier names (without any
       punctuation other than the '_' character).  They may have a parameter
       list appended, which is only checked for whether its parentheses
       ('(',')') nest properly.

       Examples of valid syntax (even though the attributes are unknown):

	   sub fnord (&\%) : switch(10,foo(7,3))  :  expensive;
	   sub plugh () : Ugly('\(") :Bad;
	   sub xyzzy : _5x5 { ... }

       Examples of invalid syntax:

	   sub fnord : switch(10,foo(); # ()-string not balanced
	   sub snoid : Ugly('(');	 # ()-string not balanced
	   sub xyzzy : 5x5;		 # "5x5" not a valid identifier
	   sub plugh : Y2::north;	 # "Y2::north" not a simple identifier
	   sub snurt : foo + bar;	 # "+" not a colon or space

       The attribute list is passed as a list of constant strings to the code
       which associates them with the subroutine.  In particular, the second
       example of valid syntax above currently looks like this in terms of how
       it's parsed and invoked:

	   use attributes __PACKAGE__, \&plugh, q[Ugly('\(")], 'Bad';

       For further details on attribute lists and their manipulation, see
       attributes and Attribute::Handlers.

SEE ALSO
       See "Function Templates" in perlref for more about references and clo-
       sures.  See perlxs if you'd like to learn about calling C subroutines
       from Perl.  See perlembed if you'd like to learn about calling Perl
       subroutines from C.  See perlmod to learn about bundling up your func-
       tions in separate files.  See perlmodlib to learn what library modules
       come standard on your system.  See perltoot to learn how to make object
       method calls.



perl v5.8.8			  2006-01-07			    PERLSUB(1)
=3202
+1375
(497)