problem with large hash vanishing

[Jack]

Hi,

I have a perl v5.6.0 program, which reads a
configuration file into a hash of hashes.
The rest of the program does a fetch from
an oracle database, and uses the configuration
hash to do processing. After a number of
successful loops the configuration hash
vanishes, becoming undefined. I have used
perl -d with the W command to watch the
config hash change, but it does not get zapped
to undefined in the debugger.

Can anyone suggest what might be going wrong,
and what further debugging I could try?

The program is a bit big to post, and it belongs
to my employer.

Thanks, Jack

 

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson]

The program ... belongs to my employer.

Then I suggest that you ask your employer for help.

 

[David K. Wall]

I have a perl v5.6.0 program, which reads a
configuration file into a hash of hashes.

Depending on the format of the config file, you may be able to use a CPAN
module to do this (if you're not already doing so).

The rest of the program does a fetch from
an oracle database, and uses the configuration
hash to do processing. After a number of
successful loops the configuration hash
vanishes, becoming undefined. I have used
perl -d with the W command to watch the
config hash change, but it does not get zapped
to undefined in the debugger.

Can anyone suggest what might be going wrong,

My crystal ball says you have a bug on line 537 that is overwriting your
hash.

and what further debugging I could try?

No, because you didn't post any code.

The program is a bit big to post, and it belongs
to my employer.

I doubt we'd want to see the entire program anyway.

Standard advice: Break it down into a short, preferably self-contained test
case that exhibits the problem. The process of doing so often reveals the
problem (it usually works for me), and if not you have a snippet of code
you can post for us to look at.