hi Bert de Jong, Basically references are like pointers in C (of course there are subtle differences). eg . In perl. | In C (int var , *ptr); $variable = "hello world";| var = 12345; $reference = \$variable | ptr = &var $reference is a pointer to $variable. To access "hello world" 1. $variable ( the way you are familiar ); 2. $$reference (pointer notation for scalars); I think this will give you a basic idea. If you want to learn more on references. you can see "perlreftut" manpage. pradeep. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]