Do not parse CGI input data by hand. There is a perfectly good module that does it for you. Example:

use CGI qw(:standard);

my $param1 = param('param1');
my $param2 = param('param2');

if(! defined($param1) ) { # Run the following code if $param1 is null
   die "param1 is null!\n";
}
if(! defined($param2) ) { # Run the following code if param2 is null
   die "param2 is null!\n";
}
[download]

Update: Added :standard import for CGI.pm, as per merlyn's suggestion (oops).

----
I wanted to explore how Perl's closures can be manipulated, and ended up creating an object system by accident.
-- Schemer

Note: All code is untested, unless otherwise stated

param is not automatically imported, last I looked.

use CGI qw(param);
...
my $param1 = param('one');
...
[download]

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

hmm... you might wanna reuse existing solutions such as CGI and Net::SMTP. Untested code:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use CGI;
use Net::SMTP;
use vars qw( $cgi %FORM $smtp );

### get the cgi params
$cgi = new CGI();
map { $FORM{$_} = $cgi->param($_) } $cgi->param();

### and on and on ...
unless ( defined($FORM{PARAM1}) && defined($FORM{PARAM2}) ){
  #complian
}

### smtp stuff
$smtp = Net::SMTP->new('mailhost');
$smtp->mail($FORM{FROM_EMAIL});
$smtp->to($FORM{TO_EMAIL});

$smtp->data();
$smtp->datasend("To: $FORM{TO_EMAIL}\n");
$smtp->datasend("Subject: $FORM{SUBJECT}\n");
$smtp->datasend("\n");

my $msg = qq(
The following information was submitted from $FORM{NAME} at $FORM{EMAI
+L}:

Full Name: $FORM{name}

Publication Name: $FORM{pubname}

Other Authors: $FORM{otherauthors}

Other Editors: $FORM{othereditors}

Main Publication Title: $FORM{pubtitle}

);

$smtp->datasend($msg);
$smtp->dataend();
$smtp->quit;
                                                                      
+                                                            
1;
[download]

Update:Thanks VSarkiss
Update:I think the untested speaks for itself. This is an example and nothing more. =]

Ahh yes, my common rant in "cgi-to-email" solutions. Your form can be used to send spam. Please do not deploy this code on the world-wide web until you have ensured that you do not get delivery addresses from form data. Otherwise, when someone discovers that your form sends email, they'll exploit it for spamming, and you'll get the blame, and then your system will be RBL'ed, and you'll end up hating the world, or something like that.

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

I appreciate your comment, but, as you can tell, I am a perl novice and know of no solution. Could you recommend a good tutorial to me? I was using the one at htmlgoodies.com

use CGI qw(:standard);
# later...
$cgi = new CGI();
map { ... } $cgi->param();
[download]

There is no reason to do both. The :standard allows you to use most of the routines in CGI as standalone functions, but you're using the "OO" style calls, which don't require the function names to be imported to your code.

In other words, do either:

use CGI;
$cgi = CGI->new();        # my preference
[download]

or:

use CGI qw(:standard);
map { ... } param();
[download]

print MESSAGE "Full Name: $FORM{name}\n";

    print MESSAGE <<EOMSG;
To: $FORM{submitaddress}
From: $FORM{name}
Reply-To: $FORM{email}
Subject: Faculty Bibliography Submission


The following information was submitted from $FORM{name} at $FORM{emai
+l}:

Full Name: $FORM{name}
Publication Name: $FORM{pubname}
Other Authors: $FORM{otherauthors}
Other Editors: $FORM{othereditors}
Main Publication Title: $FORM{pubtitle}
EOMSG
[download]

$longform{name} = "Full Name";
$longform{pubname} = "Publication Name";
...

foreach my $form (keys %longform)
  {
  print MESSAGE "$form: $longform{$form}\n";
  }
...
[download]

The downside to the last idea, of course, is that you lose control over the ordering.

Unless, of course, you keep your ordering in some @ordering array. Then, your loop looks something like:

my %longform
...

$longform{name}    = 'Full Name';
$longform{pubname} = 'Publication Name';
...

my @ordering = qw(
    name
    pubname
...
);

foreach my $form (@ordering)
  {
  print MESSAGE "$form: $longform{$form}\n";
  }
...
[download]

(Style nit - don't use double-quotes unless you need them. Single-quotes tell me, the maintainer, that this is a constant string. Double-quotes tell me it could change.)

------
We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

Don't go borrowing trouble. For programmers, this means Worry only about what you need to implement.

Please remember that I'm crufty and crochety. All opinions are purely mine and all code is untested, unless otherwise specified.