in reply to PERL - newbie: first time working with GetOptions error given when running script

You're not showing us the relevant code. What is line 90? Get rid of all the code you don't need, and add just the relevant code which demonstrates your problem (http://sscce.org).

When I add this to the top of your code

use Getopt::Long; getCmndArg();

and run it, I get:

program.pl --help --dfiles --err_dup F68 F100 5 help is called - Help Panel: dfiles is called - deleting old simulation files err_dup is called