How is this string being used as an array of sums?

[Rodeored]

if $mystring equals this:
"1=2,2,4,3,3,3,1,2,4,2,4,2,2,2,4|2=4,3,3,2,4,2,3,3 ,2,2,3,3,4,5,2|3=1,4,2,4,4,5,4,2,3,4,5,5,2,3,5"

and I access it like this:
$mystring{1}

The value is 40, which is the sum of the first section of the string (2,2,4,3,3,3,1,2,4,2,4,2,2,2,4)

What kind of construct is this where the brackets are used on the string as if it were some kind of array and the result is the sum of part of the string? What do I look for to look this up?

[miller]

The fact that returns anything should be treated as a fluke and not used in any relied upon way.

Always use strict; at the beginning of your perl programs and declare your variables with my.

[rovf]

$ perl -lwe 'use strict; my $mystring="1=2,2,4,3,3,3,1,2,4,2,4,2,2,2,4|2=4,3,3,
2,4,2,3,3 ,2,2,3,3,4,5,2|3=1,4,2,4,4,5,4,2,3,4,5,5,2,3,5"; my %mystring=(!!$mystring => length($m
ystring)); print $mystring{1}'
 

96

To get an even more accurate answer, please post a small, but complete program, showing your problem.