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Storing text from a <form> without loosing linebreaks.

I need help. I need to be able to store the text from a "textarea" in a table and retrieve it again without loosing the linebreaks made when "return" is pressed during the typing in the field. I am using ASP.
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sybe

You could use the normal procedure, "returns" are saved into the database as well. The contents of a <TEXTAREA> should be stored into a memo-field (using Access), or a field of the type "text" (using MS SQL).

If you really want to be sure (and avoid trouble with quotes), you could URLEncode the text before storing it (Server.URLEncode) and decode it again before displaying.

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ASKER

I store it in a MS SQL "text" field. I even URLEncode it, but the "returns" still ain't there... what is the problem? I add the data by calling it with Request.Form("Info")...
The returns are converted to %something when the string is urlencoded, you have to decode it to get them back.
Oh and by the way, a return in text, is not a return in HTML, if you want the returns to be converted to HTML, then use a replace function, which replaces the returns with "<p>" or "<br>".

REPLACE(YourString, CHR(10), "<p>")
will replace linefeed
CHR(13) is carriage return, you might want to use that maybe.

mayby you shoud place int in a textarea of 0x0 in the table
Use the "wrap=virtual" flag:

<textarea wrap=virtual ...>

//madduck
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ASKER

That didn't work. No diffrence at all.
I came up with the idea to URLEncode the the data and then replace all "%0D%0A" with "<br>" before I URLDecode it. The problem is that I lose all "spaces" since they are converted into a "+" sign and If I change that to spaces, then I'd lose the "real" +:es.
What I need to do is to (store) and later retrieve the whole text including "returns".
Now I get it. A real + would be coded as %20, so you would first convert "+" to " " and then "%20" to "+".

How about using a CGI library? This will do it for you!
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ASKER

I solved it on my own. I really aprreciate your help, especially sybe who, I could give some credit for the idea with CHR(13). Had to do some more things though... oh well... thank you all!
sybe, then please answer this so that aspdev cxan award you.

later pals!
oh yeah, and aspdev, please tell us quickly what you did so that this question is a useful PAQ!
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ASKER

Sorry.
I HTMLEncoded it before I stored it in the database.
Then I retrived it and replaced all CHR(13) with "<br>". To enable a person to add more than one "space" in a row, I added that it also changed the " " to "&#160;".


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ASKER

And one more thing, it is useful to relace only "  " (notice the TWO spaces) with " &#160;" since you otherwise will have onle long line with what for the browser looks like one word "and&3160;then&#160;I&#160;" ect. That will disable the wordwrapping. So only replace when it is more than one space and replace with one space and one &#160;
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sybe

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I guess you could. Want to say thanx to madduck too but you are the one who gave me part of the idea to the solution. Thanx! here you are.