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I noticed that you are putting $escaped{username} instead of $escaped{'username'} 
 
and $escaped{realname} instead of $escaped{'realname'}
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I've tried this and I'm afraid I still get the same problem.
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<div>
Regarding first line: 
&quot;&nbsp;if ($inputs{username}){ &quot; 
 
if 'username' contains the e-mail (but none is entered by the user) then the very first if check fails and nothing will happen at all.
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I think I understand - I thought it was saying that if there's an email address it should be linked to the realname, but if not, only the name should be printed. &nbsp;But it presently states that it should only print if threre's an email address. 
 
Is there a simple way to get what I need?
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<div>
$_ .= qq(&lt;a href=&quot;mailto:$escaped{username}&quot;&gt;) if (defined $inputs{username} &amp;&amp;&nbsp;$linkmail); 
$_ .= &quot;$escaped{realname}&quot; 
$_ .= &quot;&lt;/a&gt;&quot; if (defined $inputs{username} &amp;&amp;&nbsp;$linkmail); 
 
if above doesn't work try: 
 
$_ .= qq(&lt;a href=&quot;mailto:$escaped{username}&quot;&gt;) if (defined($inputs{username}) &amp;&amp;&nbsp;$linkmail); 
$_ .= &quot;$escaped{realname}&quot; 
$_ .= &quot;&lt;/a&gt;&quot; if (defined($inputs{username}) &amp;&amp;&nbsp;$linkmail); 

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<div>
I've tried these but I get an error with both. 
 
Here's the complete write guestbook section: 
 
rewrite_file($guestbookreal, sub 
{ 
&nbsp; &nbsp;if (defined and /&lt;!--begin--&gt;/) { 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ = '' unless $entry_order; 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;b&gt;Name:&lt;/b&gt; &quot;; 
 
$_ .= qq(&lt;a href=&quot;mailto:$escaped{username}&quot;&gt;) if (defined($inputs{username}) &amp;&amp;&nbsp;$linkmail); 
$_ .= &quot;$escaped{realname}&quot; 
$_ .= &quot;&lt;/a&gt;&quot; if (defined($inputs{username}) &amp;&amp;&nbsp;$linkmail); 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{'url'}) { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= qq(&lt;a href=&quot;$escaped{'url'}&quot;&gt; - Homepage&lt;/a&gt;); 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} else { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&nbsp;&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;br /&gt;\n&quot;; 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{city}){ 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;b&gt;City:&lt;/b&gt; $escaped{city} &quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{state}){ 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= $escaped{state}; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{country}){ 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;b&gt;Country:&lt;/b&gt; $escaped{country} &nbsp;&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt; &nbsp;Date:&lt;/b&gt; $date&lt;br /&gt;\n&quot;; 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($separator) { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;b&gt;Comments:&lt;/b&gt; $comments&lt;HR width=550 SIZE=3&gt;\n\n&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} else { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;b&gt;Comments:&lt;/b&gt; $comments&lt;p /&gt;\n\n&quot;; 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;!--begin--&gt;\n&quot; unless $entry_order; 
&nbsp; &nbsp;} 
});
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<div>
This is the live version: 
 
rewrite_file($guestbookreal, sub 
{ 
&nbsp; &nbsp;if (defined and /&lt;!--begin--&gt;/) { 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ = '' unless $entry_order; 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;b&gt;Name:&lt;/b&gt; &quot;; 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{username}){ 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($linkmail) { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= qq(&lt;a href=&quot;mailto:$escaped{username}&quot;&gt;); 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;$escaped{realname}&lt;/a&gt;&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} else { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;$escaped{realname}&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{'url'}) { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= qq(&lt;a href=&quot;$escaped{'url'}&quot;&gt; - Homepage&lt;/a&gt;); 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} else { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&nbsp;&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;br /&gt;\n&quot;; 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{city}){ 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;b&gt;City:&lt;/b&gt; $escaped{city} &quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{state}){ 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= $escaped{state}; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{country}){ 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;b&gt;Country:&lt;/b&gt; $escaped{country} &nbsp;&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt; &nbsp;Date:&lt;/b&gt; $date&lt;br /&gt;\n&quot;; 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($separator) { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;b&gt;Comments:&lt;/b&gt; $comments&lt;HR width=550 SIZE=3&gt;\n\n&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} else { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;b&gt;Comments:&lt;/b&gt; $comments&lt;p /&gt;\n\n&quot;; 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&lt;!--begin--&gt;\n&quot; unless $entry_order; 
&nbsp; &nbsp;} 
});
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<div>
Oops, associative array, I should have said 'exists' instead of 'defined', try that instead.
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<div>
I'm still getting a script error: 
 
syntax error at guestbook.pl line 217, near &quot;$_ &quot;&nbsp;syntax error at guestbook.pl line 251, near &quot;}&quot; Execution of guestbook.pl aborted due to compilation errors
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<div>
try: 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if (($inputs{username}) and ($linkmail)) { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= qq(&lt;a href=&quot;mailto:$escaped{username}&quot;&gt;); 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$lmail = 1; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;$escaped{realname}&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($lmail) { $_ .= &quot;&lt;/a&gt;&quot;; } 

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<div>
Instead of: 
 
if ($lmail) { $_ .= &quot;&lt;/a&gt;&quot;; } 
 
you can also say: 
 
$_ .= &quot;&lt;/a&gt;&quot; if ($lmail); 

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<div>
Thanks again but I'm afraid I'm still getting errors: 
 
Global symbol &quot;$lmail&quot; requires explicit package name at guestbook.pl line 217. Global symbol &quot;$lmail&quot; requires explicit package name at guestbook.pl line 220. BEGIN not safe after errors--compilation aborted at guestbook.pl line 682
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<div>
That's it! &nbsp; thanks very much, works a treat.
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<div>
<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
I've altered the NMS guestbook.pl script slightly so it prints the guests name with a hyperlink to their email address - instead of their homepage. 
 
The problem I have is that if they leave out their email address (or it's invalid), their name isn't printed in the guestbook. 
 
This is the altered code: 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{username}){ 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($linkmail) { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= qq(&lt;a href=&quot;mailto:$escaped{username}&quot;&gt;); 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;$escaped{realname}&lt;/a&gt;&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} else { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;$escaped{realname}&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;if ($inputs{'url'}) { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= qq(&lt;a href=&quot;$escaped{'url'}&quot;&gt; - Homepage&lt;/a&gt;); 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} else { 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$_ .= &quot;&nbsp;&quot;; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;} 
 
This is from the NMS version of the Matt's script archive guestbook.pl 
 
Any ideas?
</div>
</div>

I've altered the NMS guestbook.pl script slightly so it prints the guests name with a hyperlink to their email address - instead of their homepage.

The problem I have is that if they leave out their email address (or it's invalid), their name isn't printed in the guestbook.

This is the altered code:

 if ($inputs{username}){
 if ($linkmail) {
 $_ .= qq(<a href="mailto:$escaped{username}">);
 $_ .= "$escaped{realname}</a>";
 } else {
 $_ .= "$escaped{realname}";
 }
 }

 if ($inputs{'url'}) {
 $_ .= qq(<a href="$escaped{'url'}"> - Homepage</a>);
 } else {
 $_ .= " ";
 }

This is from the NMS version of the Matt's script archive guestbook.pl

Any ideas?

NMS Guestbook problem

A scripting language is a programming language that supports scripts, programs written for a special run-time environment that automate the execution of tasks that could alternatively be executed one-by-one by a human operator. Scripting languages are often interpreted (rather than compiled). Primitives are usually the elementary tasks or API calls, and the language allows them to be combined into more complex programs. Environments that can be automated through scripting include software applications, web pages within a web browser, the shells of operating systems (OS), embedded systems, as well as numerous games. A scripting language can be viewed as a domain-specific language for a particular environment; in the case of scripting an application, this is also known as an extension language.