By a node system, I refer to basically what the Everything engine that powers PM is. That is, there is only one CGI script that is accessed by the end user, and the key param that is passed to that script is the node ID. This node ID is looked up in a database to determine its type as well as additional information for the node. This type determine any further programming logic that should be implemented using subroutines. A state machine in a node setup is basically linking nodes together in a series of steps as appropriate by the logic.

At least, that's how I'm defining it. I definitely wouldn't call it vanilla CGI.

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Dr. Michael K. Neylon - mneylon-pm@masemware.com || "You've left the lens cap of your mind on again, Pinky" - The Brain
"I can see my house from here!"
It's not what you know, but knowing how to find it if you don't know that's important