Question

In a Perl object, I’m trying to add a new field into $self from within a File::Find wanted() sub.

use File::Find;

sub _searchForXMLDocument {
    my ($self) = @_; 
    if($_ =~ /[.]+\.xml/) {
        $self->{_xmlDocumentPath} = $_;
    }
}


sub runIt{
    my ($self) = @_;
    find (\&_searchForXMLDocument, $self->{_path});
    print $self->{_xmlDocumentPath};
}

_searchForXMLDocument() searches for an XML Document within $self->{_path} and is supposed to append that XML path to $self->{_xmlDocumentPath} but when I try to print it, it remains uninitialized. How do I add the field in $self?

Use of uninitialized value in print at /home/scott/workspace/CCGet/XMLProcessor.pm line 51.

Answer 1

You aren’t calling _searchForXMLDocument() in an OO manner, so your $self object isn’t being passed to it. This should do the trick now. Use a closure for your method and you have access to $self;

sub runIt{
    my ($self) = @_;

    my $closure = sub {
        if($_ !~ m/[.]+\.xml/) {
            $self->{_xmlDocumentPath} = $_;
        }
    };

    find(\&$closure, $self->{_path});
    print $self->{_xmlDocumentPath};
}