Hi.
I quickly skimmed this thread and did not see any output from the setting of the hash. Here is a hastily-coded example:

Code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

# @(#) p1       Demonstrate hash setting, printing, global variables.

use warnings;
use strict;

my ($debug);
$debug = 0;
$debug = 1;

our (%hash);

# Set contents of hash.
populate();

# Prove that the hash contents exist.
foreach my $k ( keys %hash ) {
  print " key: $k, value: $hash{$k}\n";
}

sub populate {
  our (%hash);

  $hash{"celery"} = "crunchy";
  $hash{soda} = "sweet";

}

exit(0);

Producing:

Code:

% ./p1
 key: celery, value: crunchy
 key: soda, value: sweet

A variable can be passed as an argument to a subroutine or it can be declared global with our. (References also can be used, but that's a different topic.) Passing it as an argument causes it to be passed as a list [unwinding], which can be time-consuming for large hashes, so the global (or reference) may be a better solution.

In any event, a perl book -- O'Reilly's Learning / Intermediate / Mastering perl trilogy, for example -- might be useful.

Best wishes ... cheers, drl