create 3 arrays. first array last names, second name first name and third array has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I'm writing a messageboard system using perl(now w/CGI.pm) and am having a bit of trouble getting the default value of a textarea to do what i'm trying to get it to do. what i've got is 
print $cgi->start_td({valign=>'TOP'}), "Message:  ", $cgi->end_td,
      $cgi->start_td, $cgi->textarea({name=>'MESSAGE', wrap=>'SOFT', r
+ows=>24,
                                      cols=>80, tabindex=>3, -default=
+>"On $date, $from wrote:\n$message"}),

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This doesn't do it, all it outputs is $message so I tried throwing it all into $replytxt and then doing this 
$replytxt = "On $date $from wrote $message";
print $cgi->start_td({valign=>'TOP'}), "Message:  ", $cgi->end_td,
      $cgi->start_td, $cgi->textarea({name=>'MESSAGE', wrap=>'SOFT', r
+ows=>24,
                                      cols=>80, tabindex=>3, -default=
+>$replytxt}),

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same thing, I think it has something to do with that string, but i'm not sure. I've also tried using qw and single quotes instead of double, same results any ideas?

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Re: default values of textareas using CGI.pm
by merlyn (Sage) on Mar 09, 2001 at 20:48 UTC
    Is this in response to a previous form invocation, and was there a field named MESSAGE in the form being submitted? If so, read up on "sticky fields", which are normally a blessing, but occasionally a distraction for tasks like yours. Here's the part of the doc you should focus on: 
           Another note The default values that you specify for the
       forms are only used the first time the script is invoked
       (when there is no query string).  On subsequent invoca-
       tions of the script (when there is a query string), the
       former values are used even if they are blank.

       If you want to change the value of a field from its previ-
       ous value, you have two choices:

       (1) call the param() method to set it.

       (2) use the -override (alias -force) parameter (a new fea-
       ture in version 2.15).  This forces the default value to
       be used, regardless of the previous value:

          print $query->textfield(-name=>'field_name',
                                  -default=>'starting value',
                                  -override=>1,
                                  -size=>50,
                                  -maxlength=>80);

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    -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

[reply]
[d/l]
      oh man yeah that was it, in fact I had just finished setting it up so that instead of that info being passed through CGI params its grabbed from a DB, so I was actually uselessly posting that info to the script, strange stuff
[reply]

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