Could use some help with == vs. eq

[Neiv]

Here is my zone/player.pl
sub EVENT_ENTERZONE
{
if(plugin::check_hasitem($client, 13732))
{
$client->SetPVP(1);
quest::settimer("aggro",20);
$client->Message(257, "A mysterious voice whispers to you, 'I'm coming for you!' ");
}
}

sub EVENT_TIMER
{
if($timername eq "aggro")
{
my $guard_one = $entity_list->GetMobByNpcTypeID(999243);

if ($guard_one)
{
my $hate_guard_one = $guard_one->CastToNPC();
$hate_guard_one->AddToHateList($client, 1);
}
quest::stoptimer("aggro");
}
}

Each time I enter this zone, everything is white and the aggro function does not work. When I look at the log, it gives me this line (several instances of it):
[08.28. - 20:02:38] Use of uninitialized value in string eq at quests/eastkarana/player.pl line 14.
When I change the eq operator to == , the aggro function works, but everything is still white. When I look at the log, it gives me this line:
[08.28. - 18:17:46] Argument "aggro" isn't numeric in numeric eq (==) at quests/eastkarana/player.pl line 14.
[08.28. - 18:17:46] Use of uninitialized value in numeric eq (==) at quests/eastkarana/player.pl line 14.
I can't seem to win for losing on this. Which is it, and why does the "right" one still give me an error in the log? And why is everything white?

[Andrew80k]

Have you tried running this from the command line? Try this:

perl quests/eastkarana/player.pl

And see what it outputs. There seems to be some unbalanced ' in one of your lines that might be causing you some issues.

[joligario]

try $timer instead of timername?

Not sure if there is a difference

[Neiv]

Yes, the perl cmd works fine. And I think I finally got the "eq" operator working properly (the aggro function now works with it). Any suggestions on why my zone might be white?

[joligario]

White text?

[Neiv]

try $timer instead of timername?
That's exactly what I did, and it fixed that part of the problem (Lexicon needs to be updated in this regard, unless timername is used solely for a numeric--as opposed to a text--timer designation).

[joligario]

I don't know if it needs to be fixed. I think eq only works with strings. $timer is an id and the best bet is to use ==. $timername may still be a valid string.

[Neiv]

White text?
White, featureless ground; white, featureless npcs; white featureless trees; white, featureless everything.

[Neiv]

I figured it out. It appears to be a problem with the entries in the eastkarana_chr.txt file. I can add additional character models to it, and it works fine until I modify a quest in the zone. Then it seems to become corrupted and it turns everything white. I deleted all but the first entry and now the zone is back to normal (except of course for the NPCs that bear the character model IDs that I deleted--which are all the interesting ones). I guess this will be a question for the Windows Server forum.