comment on

Esteemed Monks, I seek your wisdom and forbearance = this code happily loads CGI params into my namespace, and if desired can fill an array with 0, 1 or many elements:

package Begin_CGI;
use CGI;
sub import {
#   ======
    my( $r_params ) = (@_) ;
    my $namespace = (caller)[0] ;    
    use vars qw(@params) ;
    
    if ( defined($r_params ) ) {
        @params = @{$r_params || [] } ;
        foreach my $var ( '@params', @params ) {
            my $name = substr($var,1) ;
            *{"${namespace}::${name}"} = 
                ( substr($var,0,1) eq '@' ) ? \@{$name} : \${$name} ;
        }
    } ;
ETC,ETC 

#CGI script...
use Begin_CGI ( [qw($scalarparam @arrayparam)];

print start_form(-name=>"input_form") .
      textfield(-name=>"arrayparam", -value=>"$array_param[0]" -force=
+>1);
      #zero, one or more text fields if so desired
print hidden(-name=>"arrayparam", -value=>"dummy", -force=>1) if is_IE
+();   
print end_form ;      

#HTML/Javascript
<BODY onload="="window_loaded()"> 

<SCRIPT>
function window_loaded {
    ensure_array(window.document.input_form, 'arrayparam');
}

function ensure_array( this_form, name ){
//       ------------

// Ensures that the specified array to hold form elements exists.
// This function is needed because browser(s) only automaticaly create
+s an array
// when there is more than one form element with the same name.
// This function works around the problem as follows (Netscape):
// If there are no form elements with its name it creates an empty arr
+ay.
// If there is a single element with its name that is the first array 
+element.
// If the array already existed it is returned.
// This function works around the problem as follows (IE 6.0):
// A dummy (hidden) form element is generated by the perl script
// Dummy has disabled property set to true by this function
// Perl script strips dummy elements prior to processing
// Iterations over arrays that contain dummy elements use adj_len to r
+educe length by one if IE

    var form_prop = "this_form." + name ;
    var obj = eval( form_prop ) ;
    if( browser_type() == 'isIE' ) {
        for ( i=obj.length-1; i >= 0; i-- ) {
            if( obj[i].value == 'dummy' ) {
                obj[i].disabled = true ;
            }              
        }        
    } else if( browser_type() == 'isNav' ) {  
        if (  obj == undefined ) {
            eval("delete " + form_prop) ;
            eval(form_prop + " = new Array(0)") ;
        } else {
            select_obj = false;
            if( obj.type != undefined )
            {
                select_obj = ( obj.type.indexOf( "select-" ) == 0 );
            }
            if ( obj.length == undefined || select_obj ) {
                a = new Array(obj) ;
                eval("delete " + form_prop) ;
                eval(form_prop + " = a") ;
            }
        }
    }
}
</SCRIPT>
[download]

I seek your wisdom to help deliver me from the ugliness of this code:

Surely my perl should not be sullied by testing for the browser type!
Two totally diverse modes makes me shudder - how can I streamline the Javascript code?
The disabled=true property is flaky - even if set the dummy value is submitted, so I need an additional @arrayparam = grep !/dummy/ @arrayparam; at the top of my scripts

But... the main (only?) thing that this code has going for it is that it works with only minor tweaks to the existing Javascript. This is after a lot of experimentation - so please only propose improvements that actually work!!! Lastly, I pray for your forbearance - surely the ration of perl to js in this question is sullying the monastery. Please help me crush it back to a couple of lines!!!

In reply to CGI Ensure Array by SteveRoe

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