.\"return the number of references to a data structure
.TH refs 3
 
.SH NAME
refs - return the number of references to a data structure
 
.SH SYNOPSIS
int refs(mixed data);
 
.SH DESCRIPTION
The number of references to `data' will be returned by refs().  This is 
useful for deciding whether or not to make a copy of a data structure
before returning it.