I got the system command right on this one, but I'm trying to not have to read in a template file to make code tags, so I'm trying to use the fill_in_string method from Text::Template. My imitation of examples is not working:

C:\Users\tblaz\Documents\evelyn>perl 5.monk.tag.pl
No such class Q::symbol at 5.monk.tag.pl line 68, near "my Q::symbol"
syntax error at 5.monk.tag.pl line 68, near "my Q::symbol ="
Execution of 5.monk.tag.pl aborted due to compilation errors.

C:\Users\tblaz\Documents\evelyn>
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Source that produced this is:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use 5.011;
use Path::Tiny;
use POSIX qw(strftime);

# initialization that must precede main data structure
# User: enter a subdirectory you would like to create
#       enter a subdirectory of this^^^ for output

my $ts     = "template_stuff";
my $output = "translations";

## turning things to Path::Tiny
my $abs   = path(__FILE__)->absolute;
my $path1 = Path::Tiny->cwd;
my $path2 = path( $path1, $ts );
say "abs is $abs";
say "path1 is $path1";
say "path2 is $path2";
print "This script will build the above path2. Proceed? (y|n)";

my $prompt = <STDIN>;
chomp $prompt;
die unless ( $prompt eq "y" );
my $template_file   = "1.tags.tmpl";
my $abs_to_template = path( $path2, $template_file )->touchpath;

# script params
my %vars = (
  monk_tags    => path( $path2, $template_file ),
  translations => path( $path2, $output ),
  book         => 'monastery tags ',
);

my $rvars   = \%vars;
my $return1 = write_monk_tags($rvars);
say "return1 is $return1";
my $munge = strftime( "%d-%m-%Y-%H-%M-%S", localtime );
$munge .= ".monk.txt";

# use Path::Tiny to create and write to a text in relevant directory
my $save_file = path( $vars{$output}, $munge )->touchpath;
my $return2   = $save_file->spew_utf8($return1);
say "return2 is $return2";
say "created file $save_file";

system( 1, 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe', $save_fil
+e );

sub write_monk_tags {
  use warnings;
  use 5.011;
  use Text::Template 'fill_in_string';

  my $rvars = shift;
  my %vars  = %$rvars;

  my $tag_pair = '<{$symbol}></{$symbol}>';
  my $return;

  # User: change these quoted values for different order or tags
  my @buchstaben = qw/i p c pre readmore b/;
  for my $i (@buchstaben) {
    $vars{"symbol"} = $i;
    print "How many $i tag pairs would you like?: ";
    my $prompt = <STDIN>;
    chomp $prompt;
    while ( $prompt gt 0 ) {
      my Q::symbol = $i;
      my $result = fill_in_string( $tag_pair, PACKAGE => Q );
      $return = $return . $result;
      --$prompt;
    }
  }

  return $return;
}
__END__
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The earlier version that goes like this does not compile either:

sub write_monk_tags {
  use warnings;
  use 5.011;
  use Text::Template 'fill_in_string';

  my $rvars = shift;
  my %vars  = %$rvars;
  
  # User: change these quoted values for different order or tags
  my @buchstaben = qw/i p c pre readmore b/;
  for my $i (@buchstaben) {
    $vars{"symbol"} = $i;
    print "How many $i tag pairs would you like?: ";
    my $prompt = <STDIN>;
    chomp $prompt;
    while ( $prompt gt 0 ) {
    my Q::symbol = $i;
      my $result = fill_in_string(<<'EOM', PACKAGE => Q);
<{$symbol}></{$symbol}>
EOM;
      $return = $return . $result;
      --$prompt;
    }
  
  return $return;
}
[download]

This syntax draws the same error. Documentation for this method is here: fill_in_string

Can I make a template from a garden variety lexical variable?