Displaying raw values (long)

This WebDNA talk-list message is from

1998

It keeps the original formatting. numero = 18460
interpreted = N
texte = The more I think about it, the more I believe that the default behavior of WebCat -- with regard to displaying the raw tag values when a variable is not set -- should be changed.It seems to be inherently *wrong* to make a tag-interpreting software like WebCatalog display the raw [tag] when there doesn't happen to be any value set for that tag.My personal belief is that WebCat should *NOT* display the raw [variable] tag on the page when the value of that variable is not set. Instead, it should simply display nothing.What purpose does it actually serve to display a raw tag when that tag is *SUPPOSED* to be interpreted? Wouldn't it make more sense to just display nothing instead?In reality I have NEVER come across a situation in which I wanted the raw tag displayed when that tag was supposed to be interpreted -- yet in nearly every page of every WebCat site I create, I have wanted it to display NOTHING when the tag has a null value -- and I continually find myself creating yet another work-around to get rid of this irritating default behavior so I can actually get WebCatalog to do what I want it to do.The problems this current default creates are enormous and all-encompassing. I have to go thru a ridiculous amount of special coding just to PREVENT this default behavior from occurring. It gets a bit irritating to continue using this software month after month, year after year, only to continue spending an inordinate amount of my time working around a default behavior that I have never -- NOT ONCE -- needed or wanted.I really think this situation should be changed.Yes, I know that when someone wants to write some HTML docs for the WebDNA language, they need to display raw tags on the page -- but that's not what most of us are doing ... and for those who are, the [raw] context works very well to prevent WebCat from interpreting tags we do not want interpreted.Please, if ANYONE can explain or describe even ONE situation in which displaying the raw tag does the *right thing* in the everyday use of WebCatalog, I am all ears ...... because in all the time I've been using this software, I cannot seem to recall a single situation in which I would want to display the raw value of a tag. In fact, the situation is exactly the opposite for me. In every situation I can think of, displaying *nothing at all* when the variable value was not set would have worked far better and tremendously easier for me ...Here's a simple yet very common situation that confuses many new WebCat user. It irritates me every time I think about it -- and this is just one of many similar situations in which I have found myself working around this bad default behavior:I want to collect a bunch of variable values on a form page, and I want to pass those variables to the next page, so I can use them in a search context. So here's the problem. Instead of creating a simple search that looks like this:[search db=xxx.db&wofielddata=[checkbox1] [checkbox2] [checkbox3] [checkbox4] [checkbox5] [checkbox6] [checkbox7]&max=10]I have to do this instead:[search db=xxx.db&wofielddata=[hideif [checkbox1]=[raw][checkbox1][/raw]][checkbox1][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox2]=[raw][checkbox2][/raw]][checkbox2][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox3]=[raw][checkbox3][/raw]][checkbox3][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox4]=[raw][checkbox4][/raw]][checkbox4][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox5]=[raw][checkbox5][/raw]][checkbox5][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox6]=[raw][checkbox6][/raw]][checkbox6][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox7]=[raw][checkbox7][/raw]][checkbox7][/hideif]&max=10]Of course, I have to do this. I MUST do this. I am *REQUIRED* to do this -- because WebCat insists on putting the raw [checkbox] value into every location where it sees that tag but where that tag did NOT have a value assigned to it.I have a couple of very serious questions to ask, because I really want to know ... from all you serious WebDNA programmers out there:1- Which of these search contexts do you prefer?2- Have you EVER needed the raw tag displayed on a page, or used in a search context, when that tag value was not set previously?Please ... if there is *any* situation in which there is a need to retain this existing default behavior, I wish someone would give me an example. Because if it is NOT necessary -- and if this particular default behavior is making all of us work a whole lot harder than we need to -- then I would strongly request a major change in the default behavior of WebCatalog in this area.Or at the very least, I would like to request that PCS give us a new preference in WebCat 3.0 -- so that we can set this behavior to the way *WE* want it -- as individual WebDNA programmers.Sincerely,Ken Grome808-737-6499WebDNA Solutionsmailto:ken@webdna.nethttp://www.webdna.net Associated Messages, from the most recent to the oldest:

Re: Displaying raw values (long) (Jeremy Pocock 1998)
Displaying raw values (long) (Kenneth Grome 1998)

The more I think about it, the more I believe that the default behavior of WebCat -- with regard to displaying the raw tag values when a variable is not set -- should be changed.It seems to be inherently *wrong* to make a tag-interpreting software like WebCatalog display the raw [tag] when there doesn't happen to be any value set for that tag.My personal belief is that WebCat should *NOT* display the raw [variable] tag on the page when the value of that variable is not set. Instead, it should simply display nothing.What purpose does it actually serve to display a raw tag when that tag is *SUPPOSED* to be interpreted? Wouldn't it make more sense to just display nothing instead?In reality I have NEVER come across a situation in which I wanted the raw tag displayed when that tag was supposed to be interpreted -- yet in nearly every page of every WebCat site I create, I have wanted it to display NOTHING when the tag has a null value -- and I continually find myself creating yet another work-around to get rid of this irritating default behavior so I can actually get WebCatalog to do what I want it to do.The problems this current default creates are enormous and all-encompassing. I have to go thru a ridiculous amount of special coding just to PREVENT this default behavior from occurring. It gets a bit irritating to continue using this software month after month, year after year, only to continue spending an inordinate amount of my time working around a default behavior that I have never -- NOT ONCE -- needed or wanted.I really think this situation should be changed.Yes, I know that when someone wants to write some HTML docs for the WebDNA language, they need to display raw tags on the page -- but that's not what most of us are doing ... and for those who are, the [raw] context works very well to prevent WebCat from interpreting tags we do not want interpreted.Please, if ANYONE can explain or describe even ONE situation in which displaying the raw tag does the *right thing* in the everyday use of WebCatalog, I am all ears ...... because in all the time I've been using this software, I cannot seem to recall a single situation in which I would want to display the raw value of a tag. In fact, the situation is exactly the opposite for me. In every situation I can think of, displaying *nothing at all* when the variable value was not set would have worked far better and tremendously easier for me ...Here's a simple yet very common situation that confuses many new WebCat user. It irritates me every time I think about it -- and this is just one of many similar situations in which I have found myself working around this bad default behavior:I want to collect a bunch of variable values on a form page, and I want to pass those variables to the next page, so I can use them in a search context. So here's the problem. Instead of creating a simple search that looks like this:[search db=xxx.db&wofielddata=[checkbox1] [checkbox2] [checkbox3] [checkbox4] [checkbox5] [checkbox6] [checkbox7]&max=10]I have to do this instead:[search db=xxx.db&wofielddata=[hideif [checkbox1]=[raw][checkbox1][/raw]][checkbox1][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox2]=[raw][checkbox2][/raw]][checkbox2][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox3]=[raw][checkbox3][/raw]][checkbox3][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox4]=[raw][checkbox4][/raw]][checkbox4][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox5]=[raw][checkbox5][/raw]][checkbox5][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox6]=[raw][checkbox6][/raw]][checkbox6][/hideif] [hideif [checkbox7]=[raw][checkbox7][/raw]][checkbox7][/hideif]&max=10]Of course, I have to do this. I MUST do this. I am *REQUIRED* to do this -- because WebCat insists on putting the raw [checkbox] value into every location where it sees that tag but where that tag did NOT have a value assigned to it.I have a couple of very serious questions to ask, because I really want to know ... from all you serious WebDNA programmers out there:1- Which of these search contexts do you prefer?2- Have you EVER needed the raw tag displayed on a page, or used in a search context, when that tag value was not set previously?Please ... if there is *any* situation in which there is a need to retain this existing default behavior, I wish someone would give me an example. Because if it is NOT necessary -- and if this particular default behavior is making all of us work a whole lot harder than we need to -- then I would strongly request a major change in the default behavior of WebCatalog in this area.Or at the very least, I would like to request that PCS give us a new preference in WebCat 3.0 -- so that we can set this behavior to the way *WE* want it -- as individual WebDNA programmers.Sincerely,Ken Grome808-737-6499WebDNA Solutionsmailto:ken@webdna.nethttp://www.webdna.net Kenneth Grome

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Displaying raw values (long)

1998

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