Returns a list consisting of all the values of the named hash, or the values of an array. (In a scalar context, returns the number of values.)
The values are returned in an apparently random order. The actual
random order is subject to change in future versions of Perl, but it
is guaranteed to be the same order as either the keys or each
function would produce on the same (unmodified) hash. Since Perl
5.8.1 the ordering is different even between different runs of Perl
for security reasons (see Algorithmic Complexity Attacks in perlsec).
As a side effect, calling values() resets the HASH or ARRAY's internal
iterator,
see each. (In particular, calling values() in void context resets
the iterator with no other overhead. Apart from resetting the iterator,
values @array
in list context is the same as plain @array
.
We recommend that you use void context keys @array
for this, but reasoned
that it taking values @array
out would require more documentation than
leaving it in.)
Note that the values are not copied, which means modifying them will modify the contents of the hash:
Starting with Perl 5.14, values can take a scalar EXPR, which must hold
a reference to an unblessed hash or array. The argument will be
dereferenced automatically. This aspect of values is considered highly
experimental. The exact behaviour may change in a future version of Perl.