Access array defined in external file from perl

Question

I have a perl pre_installer.conf program for storing config.

use strict;

$VAR::phpmodules = ("php5-curl", "php5-mcrypt", "php-abc");
1;

I have included this file and accessed $VAR::phpmodules

require 'pre_installer.conf';
print $VAR::phpmodules;

But it prints only 'php-abc'. That is the last item only? Why didn't it print the whole array?

Out of interest - if you perl -c that module, does it work? — Sobrique
– Sobrique, Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 14:50
Actually, never mind. You need warnings turned on too, for perl to warn you about the bad syntax on that line. — Sobrique
– Sobrique, Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 14:53

Sobrique · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-20 14:52:40Z

Because

$VAR::phpmodules = ("php5-curl", "php5-mcrypt", "php-abc");

isn't doing what you think it is. It's assigning the last element in the list.

my $thing = ( "one", "two", "three" );
print $thing;

#prints "three";

However, this is a really good example why use strict; and use warnings; is a REALLY good idea - because warnings tells you:

Useless use of a constant ("one") in void context at line ...
Useless use of a constant ("two") in void context at line ...

Try:

$VAR::phpmodules = ["php5-curl", "php5-mcrypt", "php-abc"];

Which will turn it into an array-ref. (You'll have to dereference it to print it though, with print @$VAR::phpmodules )

my $thing = [ "one", "two", "three" ];
print @$thing;
#prints onetwothree because no delimiter between array elements.

Or

@VAR::phpmodules = ("php5-curl", "php5-mcrypt", "php-abc");

e.g.

my @thing = ( "one", "two", "three" );
print @thing;
#prints "onetwothree"

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