Then, each element of $data_all will be a hashref (not a hash as you assume)

Thank you so much! This was killing me! And a big duh on my assumption error.

I love that there's still a place on the internet where people can get helped, without being scolded (for their own errors, or judgement answers like "why do you want to do that?" Am old enough to miss newsgroup forums for help.

Thank you again.