Why do I get “Can't use string as a HASH ref” error when I try to access a hash element?

Question

How do I fix this error?

foreach (values %{$args{car_models}}) {
   push(@not_sorted_models, UnixDate($_->{\'year\'},\"%o\"));
}

Error:

Answer 1

Hi if you have a hash ref variable (like $hash_ref) then code will be

if ( ref($hash_ref) eq 'HASH' and exists $hash_ref->{year} ) {
    push(@not_sorted_models, UnixDate($hash_ref->{year},"%o")); 
}
#instead of below:
if ( ref eq 'HASH' and exists $_->{year} ) {
    push(@not_sorted_models, UnixDate($_->{year},"%o")); 
}