No need for globals, just have the coderef use lexicals in the scope it's declared in (i.e. use a closure).
{
my $returned_data = [ ];
sub my_fetch_callback { push @{ $returned_data }, $_[0] }
routine_wanting_callback( \&my_fetch_callback );
for my $datum ( @{ $returned_data } ) {
munge_it( $datum );
}
}
Update: Moved bracket after for so it would, you know, actually work. Duurr. Stupid trees making pollen affecting sinuses with their pollen making brane numbing congestion stuff.
Another example: You could also pass a coderef which stores the results by calling methods on an object you provide.
my $line_holder = Line::Holding->new( );
routine_wanting_callback( sub { $line_holder->hold( $_[0] ) } );
$line_holder->process_held_lines;
Nothing says the callback has to call a named subroutine sitting in the symbol table (unless the callback wanting routine says it takes the name of a subroutine of course; but that'd just be bad design :).