-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

If you were worried about this you could collect the parameters like this :-

  my $hash = {};
  for ($cgi->param())
  {
    push @{$hash->{$_}}, $cgi->param($_);
  }
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However I find that 9 times out of 10 you want the simpler hash, so you can collect the data twice in a slightly more complicated way something like this :-

  my $hash = {};
  for ($cgi->param())
  {
    push @{$hash->{list}->{$_}}, $cgi->param($_);
    $hash->{scalar}->{$_} = $hash->{list}->{$_}->[0];
  }
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You can then access most data with a simple $hash->{scalar}->{'whatever'} but for those cases when you cared about multiple entries you can do $hash->{list}->{'whatevers'}->1

I think the CGI module is fantastic, but I do find it much more convenient to have my data in a hash rather than have to call it from param() when I need it. For a CGI of any length then I'd certainly use one of another of the methods above.

If you want your data easily broken out so you don't have to call param, the easiest way is probably just to use the import_names call:

       IMPORTING ALL PARAMETERS INTO A NAMESPACE:

          $query->import_names('R');

       This creates a series of variables in the 'R' namespace.
       For example, $R::foo, @R:foo.  For keyword lists, a vari-
       able @R::keywords will appear.  If no namespace is given,
       this method will assume 'Q'.  WARNING:  don't import any-
       thing into 'main'; this is a major security risk!!!!
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Then you still get both the single item $R::foo and the occasional list item @R::bar. And no code to cargo-cult-schlep around.

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker