If I understand you correctly, you could apply the following quick fix for a default page: 
# The two argument form of param will set the value
param('page','home') if ! defined param('page');

[download]
To ensure that you only have word characters in your param, use the beginning and end of string anchors in your regex: 
param('page') =~ /^(\w+)$/

[download]
Hope that's what you were looking for!

Cheers,
Ovid

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In reply to (Ovid) Re: Default CGI.pm param() if none provided? by Ovid
in thread Default CGI.pm param() if none provided? by ybiC

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