Re: CGI URL -- WEB400

Brad Stone wrote:

I never said it wasn't a rule, I never said it didn't have
to be done.  What I have said (every time you bring this up)
is that when I feel it's needed, I will do it.  When it's
not, I won't.  Encoding data is something you should have
figured out you needed and how to do it doing static HTML.

You can't include every little thing in every book (yes, I
can read your mind.. right now you're thinking "ITS A
RULE!!! RAZZZMM FRAZZMMM!!").  Sometimes, as I've said
before, it's best to focus on the core pieces and not go off
on too many tangents.  But it's hard to seperate the
Web400-L audience from the "real" audience that's still
working in an RPGIII shop and never seen anything else.
Throw too much at them at once, and kaboom.  They give up.

Other smaller pieces like URL encoding will be picked up by
accident along the way, or are already known.  I mean, I do
teach the core, but I also teach how to research questions.
That's the most important part of any teacher's job... how
to find information because no teacher/book, etc can cover
every little thing.

"Other smaller pieces like URL encoding will be picked up by
*accident* along the way...".   Huh?!?

I suppose we just have a difference of opinion, then. I consider
escaping the special HTML characters and the URL encoding of query
strings as part of the "core" of CGI programming, and no treatment
of the subject is complete without discussing these pitfalls. Sure,
you can't include everything in one book. But in my opinion, you've
included a lot of material of much lesser importance in your "e-RPG"
book. How difficult could it have been to include a couple of extra
small procedures with, oh, two paragraphs of explanation?

BTW, I've been told that at least one other teacher of RPG CGI does
cover the subject more thoroughly, and his seminars have apparently
been given good reviews by his students. Perhaps you are
underestimating the abilities of your students?

Oh yeah, one more thing. Sure, the student can research the subject
and find more information in other books and on the internet. But
the best resources generally require an understanding of another
language, typically that gawd-awful language Perl. Wouldn't it be
better to provide some good answers in a form more palatable to an
RPG audience?

(Maybe I'm too paranoid, but perhaps there are some consultants who
don't tell their clients everything they need, just to ensure
call-backs? Nah, that's being way too cynical, eh?)  ((On the other
hand, being paranoid does seem to be a definite asset when it comes
to internet programming.))

Cheers!  Hans