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# our

Perl 5 version 12.2 documentation
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# our

Perl functions A-Z | Perl functions by category | The 'perlfunc' manpage

- our EXPR

- our TYPE EXPR
- our EXPR : ATTRS
- our TYPE EXPR : ATTRS

  `our` associates a simple name with a package variable in the current package for use within the current scope. When `use strict 'vars'` is in effect, `our` lets you use declared global variables without qualifying them with package names, within the lexical scope of the `our` declaration. In this way `our` differs from `use vars` , which is package scoped.

  Unlike `my`, which both allocates storage for a variable and associates a simple name with that storage for use within the current scope, `our` associates a simple name with a package variable in the current package, for use within the current scope. In other words, `our` has the same scoping rules as `my`, but does not necessarily create a variable.

  If more than one value is listed, the list must be placed in parentheses.

          our $foo;    our($bar, $baz);

  An `our` declaration declares a global variable that will be visible across its entire lexical scope, even across package boundaries. The package in which the variable is entered is determined at the point of the declaration, not at the point of use. This means the following behavior holds:

          package Foo;    our $bar;      # declares $Foo::bar for rest of lexical scope    $bar = 20;    package Bar;    print $bar;    # prints 20, as it refers to $Foo::bar

  Multiple `our` declarations with the same name in the same lexical scope are allowed if they are in different packages. If they happen to be in the same package, Perl will emit warnings if you have asked for them, just like multiple `my` declarations. Unlike a second `my` declaration, which will bind the name to a fresh variable, a second `our` declaration in the same package, in the same scope, is merely redundant.

          use warnings;    package Foo;    our $bar;      # declares $Foo::bar for rest of lexical scope    $bar = 20;    package Bar;    our $bar = 30; # declares $Bar::bar for rest of lexical scope    print $bar;    # prints 30    our $bar;      # emits warning but has no other effect    print $bar;    # still prints 30

  An `our` declaration may also have a list of attributes associated with it.

  The exact semantics and interface of TYPE and ATTRS are still evolving. TYPE is currently bound to the use of `fields` pragma, and attributes are handled using the `attributes` pragma, or starting from Perl 5.8.0 also via the `Attribute::Handlers` module. See Private Variables via my() in perlsub for details, and fields, attributes, and Attribute::Handlers.