Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jpl-devvax!lwall
From: lwall@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (Larry Wall)
Subject: Re: using contents of a scalar variable as a variable name
Message-ID: <1991Apr13.042043.9023@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov>
Reply-To: lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall)
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
References: <knodel.671412777@spot.Colorado.EDU> <1991Apr12.023355.2449@iwarp.intel.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 1991 04:20:43 GMT

In article <1991Apr12.023355.2449@iwarp.intel.com> merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal L. Schwartz) writes:
: Sure, use symbolname assignment (or whatever it's called...):
: 
: *NAME = $names[0];
: 
: $NAME = "something";
: 
: Warning: this hides @NAME, %NAME, &NAME, and the NAME filehandle (did
: I leave anything out???), so use carefully.

You left out the NAME format, the NAME directory handle, and all the special
variables bound to the NAME filehandle by select.  NAME also loses any
magical significance: *ENV = 'foo' would turn %ENV into a normal array,
I believe.  (Although it's still forced to be a global variable by the
symbol table routines.)

Larry