package myPackage; my @containerRefArray=(); my @containeeArray=(); ... sub get_parentRelPos (\%$) { my ($object, $name)=@_; my ($i, $j, $found); my @tmp; my $parentObject=$object->{'~PARENT'}; my $objectIndex=$object->{'~entPhysicalIndex'}; for ($i=0; $i < @containerRefArray; $i++) { if ($containerRefArray[$i] eq $parentObject) { $found=1; last; } } ...