I have a large group of modules (classes) whose names are stored in a database. I would like to be able to construct any of the objects dynamically. Here is the basic function I have created:

# Returns the object for a given widget ID
sub get_widget
{
    my $widgetID = shift;
       
    my $className = get_widget_class_name($carrierID);       

    my $fullClass = 'SuperWidget::Widget::' . $className;
    
    my $widget = new $fullClass ($widgetID);
   
    return $widget; 
}
[download]

It worked great for a while, but now it's giving me the following error:

syntax error at file, line #, near "$fullClass ("

I followed the basic constructor method call format from Damian Conway's Object-Oriented Perl (incredible book, BTW), so I'm not sure why it isn't working, especially since it worked earlier. I have checked that both widgetID and widgetClassName are coming back as valid values. I am "use"ing all of the potential class names, and each one's package is named correctly, like:

package SuperWidget::Widget::SpecificWidget;<p>
[download]

The subroutine works correctly when I substitute $fullClass for a literal string in the constructor call.

Does anyone know what I am possibly doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for the help! :)

joecamel