With no code this is just a guess, but you're probably trying to reference lexical variables (i.e. stuff you've declared with my $zorch = ...) which won't work. Formats only can see package variables (globals).

Update: I stand partially corrected. Shows how long it's been since I've really used write I guess. :)

Sort of:



Lexical variables (declared with "my") are not visible within a format unless the format is declared within the scope of the lexical variable. (They weren't visible at all before version 5.001.)



From perlform
--------------
It's sad that a family can be torn apart by such a such a simple thing as a pack of wild dogs

use Carp;
sub swrite {
    croak "usage: swrite PICTURE ARGS" unless @_;
    my $format = shift;
    $^A = "";
    formline($format,@_);
    return $^A;
}


$string = swrite(<<'END', 1, 2, 3);
Check me out
    @<<<  @  @>>>
END

print $string;
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