Parse error unexpected period - CiviCRM Documentation

Parse error: parse error, unexpected '.', expecting '(' in /[CMS path]/modules/civicrm/civicrm.module on line 134

This error is thrown if you attempt to run the PHP5 version of CiviCRM in a PHP4 environment.

Verify the version of PHP you are running (you can usually type 'php -i' from the command line). Then verify the CiviCRM PHP version encoded in the download filename:

For example:

<?php
<span class="q">civicrm-drupal-php4-v1.4<wbr />-rev5329M.tgz</span>
?>

contains version 1.4 rev 5329 FOR PHP4.

IMPORTANT: You can not have multiple copies of CiviCRM in directories below [drupal_root]/modules - even if you have named some of them .bak or some other "backup" name. Drupal will find any copies of civicrm.module under the modules/ directory and you will get unexpected results.