Assuming that $q is a blessed CGI reference, $q->textfield() (with the proper arguments) would return an HTML text input field, which you would normally print to stdout as part of a web page.

If you're trying to retrieve query paramters, you want to use something like:

$var = $q->param('lastname');
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Update:

Ok, I think I misunderstood what you were aiming for. MrNobo1024 hit the nail on the head.