can't call method without package or object reference

bwv871 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Any help greatly appreciated: I am trying to run a script that checks multiple POP3 accounts at once. The script times out, and the error message from the log is "Can't call method "login" without a package or object reference at inbox.pl line 31."

--I'm on a Unix server, running Perl Version 5.006001

--The script can be found here: http://scbr.com/docs/download/mwm.shtml. The instructions (such as they are) can be found here: http://scbr.com/docs/download/mwm_inst.shtml.

--I do not get the error immediately; it takes about 30 or 40 seconds for the "connection error" text to appear.

--When I run the script, everything appears to work fine: by calling mwm.pl I get an html document to log in to, I am then taken to a window with three frames, I can set up new accounts, and all data is written to the "db" files. I can even send mail (/usr/lib/sendmail). Here is the 'inbox.pl' script:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use CGI qw(:standard);
use myPOP3;

if(param('tb')) {printToolbar();exit;}

checkLogin();

$account = param("a") || err();
$p_act = param("act") || "";

$p1 = '?';
$pwd = param("pwd") || $p1;

readPref('./db');

if(($PREF[2] eq $p1)) {
    if($pwd eq $p1) { askPwd(); exit; }
    else { $PREF[2] = $pwd; }
}

print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
print "<html>\n";
printScript2();
print "<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><fo
+nt face=\"times\" size=2>\n<form method=\"post\">\n";

deleteMsg($p_act) if ($p_act =~ /^del\|/);

$pop = myPOP3->new($PREF[0]) || print "Connection error.\n";
$count = $pop->login($PREF[1], $PREF[2]);
$scr = '<img src="img/scr.gif" width="8" height="16" border="0">';

if(!$count) {print "Login incorrect.\n";}
else{
    $count = $count * 1;
    print "&nbsp;Messages: $count\n";
    if($count>0){
        $tmp = $pop->list();
        %sizes = %$tmp;
        print "<table cellspacing=1>\n";
        print "<tr bgcolor=\"\#e0e0e0\"><td>&nbsp;</td><td>$scr</td><t
+d><font size=2><b>Subject</b></font></td><td width=40><font size=2><b
+>Size</b></font></td><td><font size=2><b>From</b></font></td><td><fon
+t size=2><b>Date</b></font></td></tr>\n";
        for($i=1;$i<=$count;$i++){
            $m = $pop->top($i);
            %HEAD = undef;
            &parseHeader($m);
            local($subj) = $HEAD{'Subject'};
            if(length($subj)>50){
                $subj = substr($subj,0,40) . '...';
            }
            local($mdate) = formatDate($HEAD{'Date'});
            $_ = $HEAD{'From'};
            local($mfrom) =  $_;
            $mfrom = $1 if /(.*)</;
            $_ = $HEAD{'Content-Type'} || '';
            local($matt) = '&nbsp;';
            $matt = $scr if /multipart/i;
            print "<tr>\n";
            print "<td><input type=\"checkbox\" name=\"selMsg$i\" valu
+e=\"$i\" onfocus=\"blur()\"></td>\n";
            print "<td><font size=2>$matt</font></td>\n";
            print "<td nowrap><font size=2><a href=\"message.pl?a=$acc
+ount&m=$i\" target=\"message\" onfocus=\"blur()\" onclick=\"return rc
+v($i)\">$subj</a></font></td>\n";
            print "<td align=right><font size=2>" . $sizes{$i} . "</fo
+nt></td>\n";
            print "<td nowrap><font size=2>" . encodeHTML($mfrom) . "<
+/font></td>\n";
            print "<td nowrap><font size=2>$mdate</font></td>\n";
            print "</tr>\n";
        }    
        print "</table>\n";
    }
}
$pop->quit;

print "<input name=\"act\" value=\"\" type=\"hidden\"><input name=\"fa
+dr\" value=\"\" type=\"hidden\">";
print "<input name=\"a\" value=\"$account\" type=\"hidden\"><input typ
+e=\"hidden\" name=\"pwd\">";
print "</form>";
print '<form name="frmR" method="post"><input name="m_from" type="hidd
+en"><input name="m_to" type="hidden"><input name="m_subj" type="hidde
+n"><input name="doc" type="hidden"></form>';
print "<form name=\"frmRcv\" method=\"post\" action=\"message.pl\" tar
+get=\"message\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"a\" value=\"$account\">
+<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"m\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"pwd\"
+></form>";
print "\n</font></body>\n</html>\n";
exit;

#----------------------------------------------------

sub printToolbar(){
print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
print "<html>\n";
printScript();
print<<TOOL;
<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0>
<table border=0 background="img/bg.gif" width="100%">
  <tr>
    <td
        ><a href="#" onclick="sendMsg();return false;" onfocus="blur()
+"><img src="img/m_new.gif" border="0" alt="Send message"></a
        ><a href="#" onclick="replMsg();return false;" onfocus="blur()
+"><img src="img/m_rep.gif" border="0" alt="Reply message"></a
        ><a href="#" onclick="fwdMsg();return false;" onfocus="blur()"
+><img src="img/m_rep.gif" border="0" alt="Forward message"></a
        ><a href="#" onclick="delMsg();return false;" onfocus="blur()"
+><img src="img/m_del.gif" border="0" alt="Delete message"></a
    ></td>
  </tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
TOOL
}

sub printScript(){
print<<__END;
<head>
<script language="JavaScript">
function delMsg(){
    var f=parent.frames.inbox;
    if(!f||!f.delMsg) return;
    f.delMsg();
}
function sendMsg(){
    window.open("send.pl");
}
function replMsg(){
    var f=parent.frames.inbox;
    if(!f||!f.replMsg) return;
    f.replMsg();
}
function fwdMsg(){
    var f=parent.frames.inbox;
    if(!f||!f.fwdMsg) return;
    f.fwdMsg();
}
</script>
</head>
__END
}

sub printScript2(){
print<<__END;
<head>
<script language="JavaScript">
function rcv(i){
    var f = document.forms.frmRcv;
    f.m.value = i;
    f.pwd.value = top.frames.account.pwds[$account-1];
    f.submit();
    return false;
}

function delMsg(){
    var f = document.forms[0];
    if(!f) return;
    f.pwd.value = top.frames.account.pwds[$account-1];
    var ch=false;
    var ch0=false;
    var chn="";
    for(i=0;i<f.elements.length;i++){
        var b=f.elements[i];
        if(b.type!="checkbox") continue;
        ch0=true;
        ch = ch || b.checked;
        if(b.checked) chn=chn+"|"+b.value;
    }
    if(!ch){
        alert(ch0?"Select a message.":"No messages.");
        return;
    }
    if(confirm("Permanently delete selected messages from server?")){
        f.act.value="del"+chn;
        f.target = "";
        f.action = "";
        f.submit();
    }
}
function replMsg(){
    var f = document.forms.frmR;
    if(!f) return;
    var f0=top.frames.message;
    if(!f0.doc) {alert("No message to reply.\\nRead a message first.")
+;return;}
    f.action="send.pl";
    f.target="wnd_repl";
    f.m_from.value=f0.m_from;
    f.m_to.value=f0.m_to;
    f.m_subj.value=f0.m_subj;
    f.doc.value=f0.doc;
    f.submit();
}
function fwdMsg(){
    var f = document.forms[0];
    if(!f) return;
    f.pwd.value = top.frames.account.pwds[$account-1];
    var ch=false;
    var ch0=false;
    var chn="";
    for(i=0;i<f.elements.length;i++){
        var b=f.elements[i];
        if(b.type!="checkbox") continue;
        ch0=true;
        ch = ch || b.checked;
        if(b.checked) chn=chn+"|"+b.value;
    }
    if(!ch){
        alert(ch0?"Select a message.":"No messages.");
        return;
    }
    var fadr = prompt("Enter email address to forward:","");
    if(fadr != "") {
        f.act.value = chn;
        f.fadr.value = fadr;
        f.target = "message";
        f.action = "forward.pl";
        f.submit();
    }
}
</script>
</head>
__END
}

sub deleteMsg(){
    return if !@_;

    local($pop, $count, @s);

    $pop = myPOP3->new($PREF[0]);
    $count = $pop->login($PREF[1], $PREF[2]);
    if($count){
        @s = split(/\|/, $_[0]);
        foreach (@s){
            $pop->delete($1) if /^(\d+)$/;
        }
    }
    $pop->quit;
}

sub parseHeader(){
    local($a)=$_[0];
    local($prev)=undef;
    foreach (@$a){
        if ( /^([a-zA-Z-]+)\:\s*(.*)/ ) {$HEAD{$1} = $2; $prev=$1;}
        elsif($prev){
            if (/^\s*(.+)/) {$HEAD{$prev} .= "\n$1";}
            else {$prev=undef;}
        }
    }
}

sub formatDate(){
    return "" if !$_[0];
    $_[0] =~ s/^(\D*)//;
    $_[0] = substr($_[0], 0, rindex($_[0], ':'));
    return $_[0];
}

sub encodeHTML(){
    $_[0] ||= "";
    $_[0] =~ s/</&lt;/g;
    $_[0] =~ s/>/&gt;/g;
    return $_[0];
}

sub checkLogin(){
    $_ = $ENV{'HTTP_COOKIE'};
    $user = $1 if /user=(\w+)/;
    err('Access denied.') if !$user;
}

sub readPref(){
    err() if !@_;
    open(PAGE, "$_[0]/$user.dbx") || err('Error open DB.');
    local(@db) = <PAGE>;
    close(PAGE);
    local($i)=1;
    foreach (@db){
        if ($i eq $account) {@PREF=split(/\|/, $_);last;}
        $i++;
    }
    err() if !@PREF;
}

sub err(){
    $_[0] ||= "  ";
    print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
    print "&nbsp;$_[0]";
    exit;
}

sub askPwd(){
print<<__END2;
Content-type: text/html

<html>
<body>
<form method="post" onsubmit="top.frames.account.pwds[$account-1]=docu
+ment.forms[0].pwd.value; return true;">
<input type="hidden" name="a" value="$account">
Password:
<input type="password" name="pwd">
<input type="submit" value="Login">
</form>
</body>
</html>
__END2
}
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