http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=955274


in reply to Re: Format Syntax error on "."
in thread Format Syntax error on "."

just put the fieldline of format in quote will fix the issue.
format STDOUT_TOP = @<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< @|||||||||| @||||| @||||| "User Command CPU Mem%" . $^ = 'STDOUT_TOP'; format STDOUT = @<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< @|||||||||| @##### @##### $user, $cmd, $cpu, $mem .