$ perl -e '$_ = "USERID1|2215|Jones|";
> my( $x, $y, $z ) = split /\|/;
> print "( $x, $y, $z )\n";'
( USERID1, 2215, Jones )

$ perl -e '$_ = "USERID1|2215|Jones|";
> ( $x, $y, $z ) = split /\|/, 3;
> print "( $x, $y, $z )\n";
> '
( 3, ,  )

$ perl -e '$_ = "USERID1|2215|Jones|";
> ( $x, $y, $z ) = split /\|/, $_, 3;
> print "( $x, $y, $z )\n";
> '
( USERID1, 2215, Jones| )