use Symbol; $sym = gensym; open($sym, "filename"); $_ = <$sym>; ungensym $sym; # no effect print qualify("x"); # "main::x" print qualify("x", "FOO"); # "FOO::x" print qualify("BAR::x"); # "BAR::x" print qualify("BAR::x", "FOO"); # "BAR::x" print qualify("STDOUT", "FOO"); # "main::STDOUT" (global) print qualify(\*x); # \*x--for example: GLOB(0x99530) print qualify(\*x, "FOO"); # \*x--for example: GLOB(0x99530)