use warnings;
use strict;
use Data::Dumper;
{
        local $/ = "\nXXX\n";
        while (my $record = <DATA>) {
                # remove the separator from the record
                $record =~ s{\Q$/\E$}{};
                print Dumper $record;
                # process the record here
        }
};
__DATA__
This is a test.
XXX
This is a multiline
test.
XXX

##</code><code>##

$VAR1 = 'This is a test.';
$VAR1 = 'This is a multiline
test.';