Perl Guru Forums: Perl Programming Help: Intermediate: Using BEGIN

CGI/Perl Guide | Learning Center | Forums | Advertise | Login

Site Search: in


	MAIN INDEX	SEARCH POSTS	WHO'S ONLINE	LOG IN

Home: Perl Programming Help: Intermediate:
Using BEGIN

perlfarmer
User

Nov 4, 2009, 9:14 AM

Post #1 of 6 (418 views)

Using BEGIN	Can't Post

I have a BEGIN block in some code to set the path for a library:

Code

BEGIN { 
    
   my $CEToolsPath = "/vbs/tools/cetools"; 
   if (-d "/vbs/tools/cetools") { 
      $CEToolsPath = "/vbs/tools/cetools"; 
   } 
   else { 
      $CEToolsPath = "/wsdb/tools.out/cetools"; 
   } 
} 
 
use lib "$CEToolsPath/perllib";

However, I am getting the following error message:

"Global symbol "$CEToolsPath" requires explicit package name"

so clearly the variable $CEToolsPath is not being instantiated. Any advice is appreciated.

7stud
Enthusiast

Nov 4, 2009, 4:33 PM

Post #2 of 6 (414 views)

Re: [perlfarmer] Using BEGIN [In reply to]	Can't Post

In your opinion, what is the purpose of "my" in a perl program?

(This post was edited by 7stud on Nov 4, 2009, 4:34 PM)

perlfarmer
User

Nov 5, 2009, 8:06 AM

Post #3 of 6 (388 views)

Re: [7stud] Using BEGIN [In reply to]	Can't Post

I tried it with our. Same problem. They both appear to be scoped within the BEGIN block, which I wasn't expecting.

FishMonger
Veteran

Nov 5, 2009, 8:11 AM

Post #4 of 6 (387 views)

Re: [perlfarmer] Using BEGIN [In reply to]	Can't Post

Put the use lib statement inside the BEGIN block.

perlfarmer
User

Nov 5, 2009, 8:30 AM

Post #5 of 6 (385 views)

Re: [FishMonger] Using BEGIN [In reply to]	Can't Post

[smacks forehead] I should have thought of that. Thanks.

perlfarmer
User

Nov 5, 2009, 10:02 AM

Post #6 of 6 (380 views)

Re: [perlfarmer] Using BEGIN [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hmm. When I put the use lib statement inside the block a later require statement, that looks for something in that lib, fails. The only thing that seems to work is:

Code

my $CEToolsPath; 
BEGIN { 
 
   $CEToolsPath = "/vbs/tools/cetools"; 
   if (-d "/vbs/tools/cetools") { 
      $CEToolsPath = "/vbs/tools/cetools"; 
   } 
   else { 
      $CEToolsPath = "/wsdb/tools.out/cetools"; 
   } 
} 
use lib "$CEToolsPath/perllib";

which is fine, but it doesn't fit with my understanding of how BEGIN works.

Search for (options)

Web Applications & Managed Hosting Powered by Gossamer Threads
Visit our Mailing List Archives