Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!gatech!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!ncoast!allbery
From: allbery@NCoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery KB8JRR)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: associative arrays of arrays
Message-ID: <1991Feb26.010557.2905@NCoast.ORG>
Date: 26 Feb 91 01:05:57 GMT
References: <1991Feb21.051208.21101@mlb.semi.harris.com>
Reply-To: allbery@ncoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery KB8JRR)
Followup-To: comp.lang.perl
Organization: North Coast Public Access Un*x (ncoast)
Lines: 46

As quoted from <1991Feb21.051208.21101@mlb.semi.harris.com> by jdr@sloth.mlb.semi.harris.com (Jim Ray):
+---------------
| I would like to build an associative array which in turn points to
| lists ( one per key ).
| 
| $array{$name} = SOME LIST
| 	Where SOME LIST is some array ( list ) of indices into another set
| 	of arrays containing relivant record information.  This array
| 	would be periodically added to while traversing the entire
| 	list of people.
+---------------

Perl doesn't support it per se; the usual solution is to store it as a string
or in other variables and use eval.

Me, in my latest abomination (about which more later, I see something about it
in a later thread) I found a need for lists of lists.  So, with a little
hacking, I came up with this monstrosity:

$gensym = 'gensym00000000000';

sub pushlist
{
    local(*l1, @l2) = @_;
    local(*sym) = $gensym++;

    @sym = @l2;
    push(@l1, *sym);
}

sub poplist
{
    local(*l1) = @_;
    local(*sym) = pop(@l1);

    @sym;
}

Similar routines can be written for shift and unshift.

++Brandon
-- 
Me: Brandon S. Allbery			    VHF/UHF: KB8JRR on 220, 2m, 440
Internet: allbery@NCoast.ORG		    Packet: KB8JRR @ WA8BXN
America OnLine: KB8JRR			    AMPR: KB8JRR.AmPR.ORG [44.70.4.88]
uunet!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!ncoast!allbery    Delphi: ALLBERY