perl> use Devel::Peek perl> $r = \substr('the quick brown fox', 10, 5) perl> print $r LVALUE(0x1bd2a70) perl> print $$r brown perl> Dump($r) SV = RV(0x1bd1cc0) at 0x1bd29f8 REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (ROK) RV = 0x1bd2a70 SV = PVLV(0x1bc3388) at 0x1bd2a70 REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (PADMY,GMG,SMG,pPOK) IV = 0 NV = 0 PV = 0x1bc37a8 "brown"\0 CUR = 5 LEN = 6 MAGIC = 0x1bc3338 MG_VIRTUAL = &PL_vtbl_substr MG_TYPE = 'x' TYPE = x TARGOFF = 10 TARGLEN = 5 TARG = 0x1bdf074 SV = PV(0x1bcd490) at 0x1bdf074 REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (PADBUSY,POK,pPOK) PV = 0x1bc19f0 "the quick brown fox"\0 CUR = 19 LEN = 20