Re: problems passing variables between subroutine

[GrandFather]

in reply to problems passing variables between subroutines

You completely ignored the last round of advice I gave you so I'd be dumb to offer you more advice wouldn't I? Hey ho, so be it, I'm dumb.

Your actual code shows exactly the problems my previous sample was designed to avoid.

1. retrieve_ESLIM_codes uses the global variable $dbh
2. retrieve_ESLIM_codes returns @sorted_parameters_A but the return result is not used
3. look_through_file uses and updates $continue_tag, but the result is not used
4. look_through_file populates a local @array_of_lines, but the result is not used
5. look_through_file sets a local $entry_no_new, but the result is not used
6. create_output is passed parameters that have no value

and so on, and so on. On top of that:

    my $dbh;
    my $sth_A = $dbh->prepare($sql_command_D) ...

is never going to give a happy result! You have a lot of work to do before your code has any chance of working.

[Freezer]

Hi. Your post is useful, thanks. I have gone through points that you have made and added my comments.


retrieve_ESLIM_codes uses the global variable $dbh

Should I be calling the database from within each subroutine, seperately?


retrieve_ESLIM_codes returns @sorted_parameters_A but the return result is not used

I was planning to use this at a future point. Anyway this is a useful reminder thanks.


look_through_file uses and updates $continue_tag, but the result is not used

It is supposed to be used. When the end of file is reached the $continue_tag goes to "FALSE" and this gets passed out of the subroutine from which point the while loop (that makes the subroutine calls in the first place) is broken.


look_through_file populates a local @array_of_lines, but the result is not used

Again. This will be used at a future point. Although I did not correctly build this array (as hinted in your next point).


look_through_file sets a local $entry_no_new, but the result is not used

At one point I did not correctly use this variable. I have removed this incorrect use. However, I don't believe that you are correct in saying that the result is not used. Basically the code is saying that if you get to the next entry number then exit the subroutine.


create_output is passed parameters that have no value

I'm not sure if I understand what you are suggesting here. Is this problem covered in the other posts?

[CountZero]

look_through_file uses and updates $continue_tag, but the result is not used

It is supposed to be used. When the end of file is reached the $continue_tag goes to "FALSE" and this gets passed out of the subroutine from which point the while loop (that makes the subroutine calls in the first place) is broken.

The value of $continue_tag gets passed out of the subroutine indeed and is immediately discarded because there is no variable to store it in.

[GrandFather]

Avoid "future proofing" code. Almost always we guess wrong about how things are going to go in the future. Leaving decisions until they need to be made generally works better - you have better information to base the decision on. If you guess and decide early it can be much harder to change your mind. You can easily end up with either a lot of work throwing away the code that was never used and rewriting it differently, or accept a sub-optimum solution that becomes hard to understand and maintain.

With that in mind:

1. Only pass parameters that are used
2. Only calculate and return results that are used
3. Don't use global variables