Robespierre

It would be difficult to estimate how much time Fodorites waste screwing around with links because of the way your script handles them. First of all, if an unbroken URL is too long, it forces horizontal scrolling that everyone has to suffer with - and if your parser stops the scan before the end of the URL because it hits some character it doesn't like, the link is unusable without copying and pasting it, so we're back to where we started.

<b>Here's the solution:</b>

1. Scan for http://
2. Parse for the first / following the h
3. Make the text between the h and the server name inclusive the link text.
4. Parse for the first [space] following the /
5. Make the text between the h and the [space] the hyperlink.

So, if I paste in some link such as http://www.doodah.com/somelongdocumentlocater
then your script would emit
&lt;a&nbsp;href=&quot;http://www.doodah.com/somelongdocumentlocater&quot;&gt;www.doodah.com&lt ;/a&gt;
and all the users would see is
<u><font color="blue">www.doodah.com</font></u>

Jed

Oh, Robespierre - First you want to chop off the heads of people. Then you want to chop up URLs. Better watch that you don't get <i>your</i> head chopped off.

BTW - Perhaps a feedback email to the editors would be more efficient.

degas

This horrible url threat must be contained at all costs. I rank it right up there with the most serious problems besetting modern society: dandruff, bad breathe, and small french fry portions.

janisj

&quot;<i>Perhaps a feedback email to the editors would be more efficient.</i>&quot;

But wouldn't that defeat the <u>real</u> reason for the OP

Robespierre

<i><b>Meow!</b></i>

Scarlett

I agree with degas.

But but Robes, what about tinyurl.com ?

Robespierre

I'm glad you asked.

1. Not everyone knows tinyurl is there, and
II. It takes a certain amount of time and effort to use it, and
c. Some people have stated misgivings about going blindly to a URL, and
iv. The Fodor's server script could be fixed in about ten minutes.

Neopolitan

Robespierre, with all due respect tinyurl.com is quick and easy, especially if you have it bookmarked. I've read your suggestion and frankly I don't have a clue what you're talking about, nor do I have a clue how to do what you're saying. I don't even know what &quot;parse&quot; means! But I do know how to use tinyurl.com and it seems a lot less complicated than whatever it is you're suggesting.

Scarlett

<i>I don't even know what &quot;parse&quot; means..</i>

LOL
Actually, I think it means something about breaking down things into codes..I think our Robes is a <i>spy...ssshhhhh~</i>

degas

Scarlett

&quot;Parse&quot; is what my mama would tell one of the kids to run fetch when the ice cream truck came down the street.

suze

huh?

we never even had live links (or whatever you call them) until recently here. be thankful. sheez.

JAGIRL

Oh thank goodness somebodY else admitted they don't know what the heck parse means!

I thought I was the only one!

Funny degas...LOL!

Robespierre

<b>suze, I think the live links would be more beneficial if they had been implemented in an ever-so-slightly different way.</b>

I am trying to improve life on this forum by suggesting a change to the server script that will <i>automatically</i> turn any URL into a hyperlink that will a) expose the name of the server (for the people who are timid about clicking blindly on a tinyurl), and b) prevent the &quot;long URL shift&quot; syndrome (for everyone).

Scarlett

degas, was her parse like my neighbors arn ?

JAGIRL

Robespierre my dear (oooh that rhymed!)=D&gt; ,
It's the end of the weekend...everybody's still in silly season mode.\/

Mayhap you should repost this on Monday morning at 8:10am when everybody gets off the and the , has a cup of ~o) or and gets serious.

janisj

Or - maybe just send an e-mail to Fodors and quit showing off.

rex

&lt;&lt; Robespierre my dear (oooh that rhymed!) &gt;&gt;

Maybe in the capital of South Dakota, it rhymes! (as in Shakespeare!)

Otherwise, &quot;...pierre&quot; rhymes - - fittingly - - with &quot;derriere&quot;...

Robespierre

I sent them an email last week.
They didn't answer.

I decided to get a discussion going.
That has not produced the desired result.

Anyone who has something to contribute to the discussion, thank you. The rest of you - get lost.

suze

&lt;The rest of you - get lost.&gt;

Get up on the wrong side of the bed... again?

Robespierre, Obviously you know more about computers or the internet or whatever than most of the rest of us. It is Fodor's you need to listen to (and understand) your point, not us.

letour

Parse is a lovely word for those grammarians who wish to break down the elements of a sentence into its components and functions. Very tidy! I'm pleased to see the word appear here.

Anyone familiar with the word, &quot;osmara?&quot; (sp.)