Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ncar!csn!boulder!spot.Colorado.EDU!knodel
From: knodel@news.colorado.edu (KNODEL DAVID)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: using contents of a scalar variable as a variable name
Summary: what's the best way to use a scalar's contents as a variable name?
Message-ID: <knodel.671412777@spot.Colorado.EDU>
Date: 11 Apr 91 23:32:57 GMT
Sender: news@colorado.edu (The Daily Planet)
Reply-To: knodel@spot.Colorado.EDU
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Lines: 21
Nntp-Posting-Host: spot.colorado.edu


In a perl application I am writing, I would find it extremely useful
to reference variables whose names are stored in an array.  The only
way which consistently worked was to use an eval statement.  For example,
if I have an array:

@names=("john","joe","paul");

and I want to assign values to the variables whose names appear
in the array (in this case, $john, $joe, and $paul).  I found that
I could reference them via an eval statement, like:
print eval("\$$names[0]");

but assigning to them via this method was a little gross:

eval("\$$names[0] = \"something\");

Is there a better way to reference these variables?

Thanks,
David (knodel@spot.Colorado.EDU)