hi barry and mike --   

In a message dated 6/9/2009 6:44:02 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
mikee@[...].com writes:

>  So, something like:
>  
>  my %functionTable = (
>    'string_1' => sub {
>     },
>    'string_2' => sub {
>     },
>  );
>  
>  invocation via:
>  
>  &$functionTable{'string_1'}(ARGLIST);
>  
>  ..is that what you had in mind?
>  
>  -Mike
>  
>  Barry Brevik wrote:
>  > I am running Active Perl 5.8.8 on Windows.
>  >  
>  > I'm coding an app right now where it would be advantageous to be able to
>  > look up a text string in an array (or hash) and be able to branch to a
>  > subroutine that is somehow associated with that string.
>  >  
>  > Am I dreaming, or is this possible?
>  >  
>  > Barry Brevik

in the expression  &$functionTable{'string_1'}(ARGLIST);  the & operator 
binds more tightly with  $functionTable  as a scalar than as a hash 
access.  try the syntax below, or better yet use the  ->   dereference 
operator.   

perl -wMstrict -le
"my %functionTable = (
   string_1 =>  sub { print qq{one: @_} },
   string_2 =>  sub { print qq{two: @_} },
   );
 &{ $functionTable{string_1} }(qw(a b c));
 $functionTable{string_2}-> (qw(x y z));"
one: a b c
two: x y z

hth -- bill walters   
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