text_combined: rafael garciasuarez pvhuhqgncrxnugmailcom 20102007 via rt owl barnowl research intelresearch net following program sub backwards_stacked myab _ lt b 1 gt b 1 0 5 19 1996 255 90 b sort mainbackwards_stacked sub routine one two sortroutine1 print eq one two ok 58n ok 58n print _0 x print prints barnowlivymmperl owl perl perlbug3pl ok 58 one two onex two assignment _0 ends corrupting using prototype makes _ alias sort subroutine arguments explains strange behaviour youre seeing aliasing persists sorting occurred _ probably emptied afterwards wed 06 aug 2008 222107 0200 perl 46565 _ ends incorrectly aliasing user array