Can't use string as an ARRAY ref

Anonymous Monk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi Monks!

I am stuck on this one where I am loosing one level in the array once I process the DATA inside of the "for loop". I hope this sample code shows better what I am trying to do and that someone can help me solve this one.

Code Sample:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper;
...

foreach my $num ( keys %{$data} ) {
 
 my $main = $data->{$num}{main};
 unshift @$main,["Account", "Name", "Date", "Code #"];

 warn Dumper $main;
 
=code
The data structure looks like this:

 $VAR1 = [
           [
             'Account',
             'Name',
             'Date',
             'Code #'
           ],
           [
             '12345',
             'MONICA',
             '01/01/1900',
             '0X10'
           ],
           [
             '000001',
             'MARY L',
             '01/01/2000',
             '0111P'
           ],
           [
             '8884',
             'JOHN M.',
             '01/01/1932',
             '0OK8'
           ],
    ];
     
=cut



 my $type = $data->{$num}{type};
 unshift @$type,["HOUSE", "YEAR", "COLOR",];

 warn Dumper $type;
 
=code
The data structure looks like this:

 $VAR1 = [
           [
             'HOUSE',
             'YEAR',
             'COLOR',
           ],
           [
             'Main',
             '1900',
             'Red',
           ],
           [
             'APT',
             '1290',
             'Blue',
           ],
           [
             'AVAL',
             '1921',
             'Green',
           ],
    ];
     
=cut

 my $princ = $data->{$num}{princ};
 unshift @$princ,["AC #","Name", "DATE", "Ref","Case #1","Case #2", "C
+ase #3", "Case #4",];

 warn Dumper $princ;

=code
The data structure looks like this:
$VAR1 = [
          [
            'AC #',
            'Name',
            'DATE',
            'Ref',
            'Case #1',
            'Case #2',
            'Case #3',
            'Case #4'
          ],
          [
            'Q3.0',
            'OK',
            '1900-01-01',
            'N',
            'O',
            'O',
            'X',
            'Y'
          ],
          [
            '12w',
            'PL',
            '2000-01-02',
            'N',
            'P',
            'O',
            'X',
            'A'
          ],
    ];
=cut

 for my $i ( 0 .. $#{ $main } ){
 
    # more stuff
    my ($a, $b, $c) = add_more(
                                data => $main->[$i],
                   );

     my ($d, $e, $f) = add_more(
                                 data => $type->[$i],
                        );
 
     my ($g, $h, $j) = add_more(
                 data => $princ->[$i],
                );
  
  }

   
}



sub add_more{

 my (%args) = @_;

 my $data = $args{data}  || '';

 warn Dumper $data;

=code
# I see that one level is lost here, just cant figure it out how to fi
+x it
 $VAR1 = [
          'Account',
          'Name',
          'Date',
          'Code #'
        ];

Can't use string ("Account") as an ARRAY ref while "strict refs" in us
+e ...

=cut


 ...
   column_props   => [ map{ {
      justify => 'center',
    } }1..@{$data->[0]}],
 ...

}
[download]

Thanks for looking!

Comment on Can't use string as an ARRAY ref Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Can't use string as an ARRAY ref by GotToBTru (Prior) on Aug 21, 2015 at 15:07 UTC
$princ is an AoA, an array whose elements are array refs. You are passing one of those array refs to add_more, which you store as $data. However, $data->[0] is a scalar, not an array ref, hence the error message. Dum Spiro Spero	[reply]
Re^2: Can't use string as an ARRAY ref by Anonymous Monk on Aug 21, 2015 at 15:25 UTC
I know, I just can't think on how to fix it.	[reply]
Re^3: Can't use string as an ARRAY ref by GotToBTru (Prior) on Aug 21, 2015 at 15:31 UTC
It looks like you might be trying to construct a table, possibly in HTML. I would suggest looking into the CPAN modules for that purpose. They will dictate your data structure, at least to an extent. Otherwise, what do you want the output to look like? Dum Spiro Spero	[reply]
Re^4: Can't use string as an ARRAY ref by Anonymous Monk on Aug 21, 2015 at 15:40 UTC
Re^5: Can't use string as an ARRAY ref by poj (Abbot) on Aug 21, 2015 at 18:13 UTC
Some notes below your chosen depth have not been shown here
Re: Can't use string as an ARRAY ref by tangent (Parson) on Aug 21, 2015 at 15:52 UTC
I think `1..@{$data->[0]}` in your `add_more` sub is what is giving you the error, it should be: `column_props => [ map { { justify => 'center' } } 1..@{$data} ],` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Can't use string as an ARRAY ref by Anonymous Monk on Aug 21, 2015 at 18:19 UTC
I guess I have to find a way to pass these: `data => $main->[$i], and data => $type->[$i], and data => $princ->[$i] +,` [download] as a reference, right?	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Can't use string as an ARRAY ref by 1nickt (Canon) on Aug 21, 2015 at 15:07 UTC
You should write a small test script with the simplest possible data and structure to demonstrate the problem. Most likely you'll figure it out, but if not you can post the script here and people will be able to see what is going on. The way forward always starts with a minimal test.	[reply] [d/l]


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