local

local EXPR

You really probably want to be using my instead, because local isn't what most people think of as "local". See perlsub/"Private Variables via my()" for details.

A local modifies the listed variables to be local to the enclosing block, file, or eval. If more than one value is listed, the list must be placed in parentheses. See perlsub/"Temporary Values via local()" for details, including issues with tied arrays and hashes.