sub splitAB
{
  my $STRING = shift;
  my $PATTERN = shift;
  # when debugging "print is your friend"
  
  print "pattern in sub splitAB= $PATTERN\n"; #####
  print "string in sub splitAB = $STRING\n"; #####
  my @OUTPUT = split(/\Q$PATTERN\E/, $STRING, 2); #####
  $a = $b = '';
  if (@OUTPUT > 0) { $a = $OUTPUT[0]; }
  if (@OUTPUT > 1) { $b = $OUTPUT[1]; }
}

sub decodeURLstr
{
  my $S = shift;
  return unescape( join(' ', split('\+', $S) ) ); #####
}