…
my $string = ${middle}."%".', '.${last}.', '.${first};

my $sql = ” SELECT  MIDDLE, LAST, FIRST
FROM   mytable
WHERE  MIDDLE  like ? AND LAST = ? AND FIRST = ?   order by FIRST asc”

my $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql) or die "Prepare Error: $DBI::errstr";
       $sth->execute($string) or die "SQL Error: $DBI::errstr\n";
…

##</code><code>##

called with 1 bind variables when 3 are needed