syntax

You are turning the ref back into an unreferecned array, try

sub func
{
     my $array_local_ref = $_[0] ;
        func2( $array_local_ref );
}

sub func2
{
     my $array_local_ref = $_[0] ;

    # and now say something like
   $array_local_ref->[0] = $sth_pm->fetchrow_array();

Did you mean either
my @array_local = @{$_[0]} ;
or
my $array_local = $_[0];
?

Not sure who you're asking Ozo?  Me or Teraplane?  If for me, can you clarify, I'm not sure what you're asking.

teraplane,

The code I posted does work to modify the orginal array (besides getting this error in the Apache log file), so I'm not sure that I turned the reference into an unreferenced array or it wouldn't have kept the reference and modified the original array.

kesea

Actually, the way you are doing it
$array_local[0] is the array ref, (and $array_local[1] etc. are unused, which makes it useless and possibly deceptive to use an array there instead of a scalar)
fetchrow_array() returns a list in list context, calling it in scalar context like
 $array_local_ref->[0] = $sth_pm->fetchrow_array();
may be undefined whether it returns the first column or the last, so that's probably not a good idea

  my @array_local = $_[0] ;

     # reset/zero input array
     @$array_local = ();
$array_local is different from @array_local

my @array_local = $_[0] ;
is the same as
my @array_local;
$array_local[0] = $_[0] ;

Ozo,

Can you post the proper working syntax for func and func2?  Would really appreciate it.  This reference stuff is really confusing to me.

Thanks,
kesea

Although there seems to be a confusion between arrays, scalar, references,
the original code looks like it should work, except that @$array_local = (); does nothig useful, unless $array_local was defined  elsewhere

the problem may be when you exit func2 and $sth_pm goes out of scope

You might try doing
  $sth_pm->finish();
before exiting func2

am using mod_perl and the database connection should be persistent, so not sure if this would accomplish anything?

do you still think it might be contributing to the error in the log file?

$dbh_pm may be persistent, but my $sth_pm  is destroyed when the function exits.
If $sth_pm does not know how to finish itself when it is destroyed, you may need to do it explicitly.
I'd suggest at least trying it.

Hi Ozo,

Adding that line unfortunately did not get rid of that log in the error file.

Any other suggestions?

kesea

can we verify whether the fetchrow_array line really is the one it is dieing on?
can you add
$|=1;
print "before fetchrow_array\n";
@{$array_local[0]} = $sth_pm->fetchrow_array();
print "after fetchrow_array\n";
and see if any of them print?

Hi Ozo,

Those lines print out, and it is not that the code ever dies or that I or a user would ever see an indication that it didn't work.  I just see that error in the log file.  Seems like it works, but then when it's done and goes to clean something up, is when it complains.

Also, the problem is that sometimes it prints that error when running a script, sometimes it doesn't when running the same script.  I will try to isolate what line exactly is having the problem and report back.

kesea

> .. am using mod_perl and the database connection should be persistent,
silly questiuion: have you designed you perl code with mod_perl in mind? Means, does you perl code ensure that global varaibles are really global to all functions and calls, nevertheless how many connections you have. Do you ensure that such global variables are *never* changed within any function?
I guess you just saw a single instance of doing things wrong with mod_perl, while the problem is buried deep in the design of your code. Please correct me if my guess is wrong.

Want to clarify where my use of mod_perl for a persistent db connection is wrong?

What exactly is in your array?  Why do you think that's where you're getting your error?  The error is being thrown by Win32::OLE.  And the code you seem to be messing with is DBI-- completely unrelated to Win32::OLE.  Does your array contain references to Win32::OLE objects?  

I would bet that you're implicitly releasing some COM objects somewhere that you still have a perl reference to and when perl goes to garbage collect them it finds out that they no longer point to valid COM objects.  I would concentrate on your Win32::OLE use.  Or at least post the portion of your code that deals with it, as that is where it looks like your error (probably actually a carp'd warning) appears to be coming from.

>  Want to clarify where my use of mod_perl for a persistent db connection is wrong?
you're right, that should be done in mod_perl
But my qustion was about *all* your variables, not just the db handle.

ok I found out what the problem was.  Because I am using mod_perl, it doesn't like connecting to the MS SQL database with ADO, I guess something in there is not multi-threaded-friendly.

I guess I will close the question...