#this prints 0
print getSecondArraySize("la", %test)."\n";

# put stuff in
$test{"la"}[0] = "1";
$test{"la"}[1] = "2";
$test{"la"}[2] = "3";

#this prints 3
print getSecondArraySize("la", %test)."\n";

##</code><code>##

##########################################################
# subroutine getSecondArraySize
# Parameter: An associative array containing scalar 
#            array and the name of a key
# Returns the total amount of element(s) in the scalar
# array within the associative array at the key location
# index
##########################################################
sub getSecondArraySize {

	# receives the argument
	my ($index, %array_to_count) = @_;
	
	# create the variable and get the number
	my $count=0;
	
	# determine the total amount of elements in the array	
    while (defined($array_to_count{$index}[$count])) {
       $count++;
    }   
    return $count;	
}