local $/ = '';

#    run script

while (<$INFILE1>){

#    define variables

    $FULL_LINE = $_;
    $TABDISPLAY = 0;
    $FIELDDISPLAY = 0;
    $DATEFIELD = 0;
    $SHORTLINE = substr($FULL_LINE,0,length($FULL_LINE)-2);
    @LINEARRAY[0..9] = split(/"+/, $SHORTLINE);

#    decide if input line is table name or field name

if (
      my ($table) = 
         /^ADD TABLE "([^"]+)"/
   ) {
    $TABDISPLAY=1;
print OUTFILE3  ("table=" . "$table \n");
   }

   elsif (
      my ($field, $table, $type) =
         /^ADD FIELD "([^"]+)" OF "([^"]+)" AS (\w+)/
   ) {
      my ($format) = /^   FORMAT "([^"]+)"/m;
        $FIELDDISPLAY=1;
        my ($format)=$FIELDLENGTH;
print OUTFILE3  ("field=" . "$field \n");
print OUTFILE3  ("type=" . "$type \n");
print OUTFILE3  ("length=" . "$FIELDLENGTH \n");
   }
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First and most important hint: Call perl with the -w parameter. On Unix you just have a first line "#!/usr/bin/perl -w" which does that automatically, with ActiveState Perl or whatever you are using on windows you might have to use perl /w <scriptname> on the command shell, I don't know how it works there.

This will tell you that you have defined $table and $format twice (with my). Not a problem and not an error, but it leads to errors later when you want to use the first $format value and get only the second $format.

It will also tell you that $FIELDLENGTH is undefined. The error message is "Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at ./t4.pl line XX" with XX the line in which you print $FIELDLENGTH. So you never put anything into that variable

Another hint: chomp() can be used to delete CR/LF line endings from a string. Much easier than substr(...) and works on unix too (where there is only one character, CR, as a line ending).