How do I break an outer loop from an inner one in Perl?

Question

Suppose I have a piece of Perl code like:

foreach my $x (@x) {
 foreach my $y (@z) {
  foreach my $z (@z) {
   if (something()) {
    # I want to break free!
   }
   # do stuff 
  }
  # do stuff
 }
 # do stuff
}

If something() is true, I would like to break ('last') all the loops.

how can I do that? I thought of two options, both of which I don't like: Using something GOTO Adding a boolean variable which will mark something() is true, check this var in each of the loops before they resume and last() if it's true.

Any suggestions or thoughts?

Thanks.

In Perl, the comment token is spelled `#`, not `//`. – daxim Sep 14 '10 at 13:32 — daxim, Sep 14 '10 at 13:32

Wooble · Accepted Answer · 2010-09-14T18:52:30.303

46

Use a label:

OUTER:
foreach my $x (@x) {
 foreach my $y (@z) {
  foreach my $z (@z) {
   if (something()) {
    last OUTER;
   }
   # do stuff 
  }
  # do stuff
 }
 # do stuff
}

edited Sep 14 '10 at 18:52

answered Sep 14 '10 at 11:47

Wooble

87,717
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score 16 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 14 '10 at 11:51

16

The "last LABEL" syntax is described in the documentation.

answered Sep 14 '10 at 11:51

Dave Cross

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How do I break an outer loop from an inner one in Perl?

2 Answers2

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