need cgi param's help

adrive has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

hi guys, is there a way to add another key under similiar parameter name with the use of cgi.pm ? i understand that whenever a group of similiar data is posted on a html, cgi uses the append() method. Such as, i have a group of checkboxes that is named "hisname" :

 $cgi->append("hisname", "alex");
 $cgi->append("hisname", "alex2");

 #to access
 my $names = $cgi->param("hisname"); #stores a list of 
"hisname"

 foreach ($names){
  print $_; #outputs alex, alex2
 }
[download]

Is there a way to add my own keys to the SIMILIAR group and how do i access it? such as :

 $cgi->append("hisname" => "alex",
              "description" => "quite bold");
 $cgi->append("hisname", "alex2",
              "description" => "healthy");
[download]

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Re: need cgi param's help by NetWallah (Canon) on Sep 17, 2007 at 05:24 UTC
from perldoc cgi: Pass the param() method a single argument to fetch the value of the named parameter. If the parameter is multivalued (e.g. from multiple selections in a scrolling list), you can ask to receive an array. Otherwise the method will return a single value. To fix, simply change your syntax : `my @names = $cgi->param("hisname"); # Use an ARRAY here foreach (@names){ ....} # ---- and HERE.` [download] Or, (based on an alternative interpration of your question), is this syntax you are looking for ?: `$cgi->append(-name=>'foo',-values=>['yet','more','values']);` [download] "As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two... " - Sir Norman Wisdom	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: need cgi param's help by adrive (Scribe) on Sep 17, 2007 at 06:00 UTC
well, as according to this example : `$query->append(-name=>'foo',-values=>['yet','more','values']);` [download] can it be.. `$query->append(-name=>'foo',-values=>['yet','more','values'], -description=>'foos description');` [download] ? it looks like we can only assign to specific keys of "name" and "value" for the cgi's param unless we put them into hash objects. problem is..if i change the way my checkbox group stores it data into the cgi (let's say my own hash objects), i won't be able to access it through : `my @fooList = $cgi->param('foo');` [download] if only there was a way like this : `$cgi->param('foo')->('description');` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: need cgi param's help by NetWallah (Canon) on Sep 18, 2007 at 00:45 UTC
It is not clear (to me) what you are trying to achieve with the "description" key. Perhaps you are trying to store additional (hidden) information in the form, that you can re-use when you receive user response. If this is your objective, you can use several "hidden" fields, with values. These can be retrieved via the usual $cgi->param syntax. If the "description" is for the benefit of the form user, perhaps you are looking for the "labels" key. From the CGI docs: The optional fifth argument is a pointer to an associative array relating the checkbox values to the user-visible labels that will be printed next to them (-labels). If not provided, the values will be used as the default. It is not clear from the docs whether or not this is applicable to the "append" method. "label" is a valid key when creating the checkbox. "As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two... " - Sir Norman Wisdom	[reply]