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Output a string to the console

Write the string "Hello World!" to STDOUT
ruby
puts "Hello World!"
$stdout<<"Hello World!"
erlang
io:format("Hello, World!~n").

Retrieve a string containing ampersands from the variables in a url

My PHP script first does a query to obtain customer info for a form. The form has first name and last name fields among others. The customer has put entries such as "Ron & Jean" in the first name field in the database. Then the edit form script is called with variables such as

"http://myserver.com/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname=Ron & Jean&lname=Smith".

The script variable for first name $_REQUEST['firstname'] never gets beyond the "Ron" value because of the ampersand in the data.

I have tried various functions like urldecode but all to no avail. I even tried encoding the url before the view screen is painted so that the url looks like "http://myserver/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname="Ronxxnbsp;xxamp;xxnbsp;Jean"&lname=SMITH". (sorry I had to add the xx to replace the ampersand or it didn't display meaningful url contents the browser sees.)

Of course this fails for the same reasons. What is a better approach?
ruby
gem 'uri-query_params'
require 'uri/query_params'

url = URI("http://myserver.com/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname=Ron%20&%20Jean&lname=Smith")
url.query_params['fname']
# => "Ron & Jean"
url = "http://myserver.com/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname=Ron & Jean&lname=Smith"
url = URI.parse(URI.encode(url))
erlang
% encode ampersand in your string using %XX where XX is hex code for ampersand
% optionally encode spaces for completeness sake to keep URL solid
URL = "http://myserver.com/custinfo/edit.php?mode=view&fname=Ron%20%26%20Jean&lname=Smith",
{_, Query} = string:tokens(URL, "?"),
KeyValuePairs = string:tokens(Query, "&"),...

string-wrap

Wrap the string "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. " repeated ten times to a max width of 78 chars, starting each line with "> "

Expected output:
> The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over t
> he lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox
> jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The qui
> ck brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy
> dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps o
> ver the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
ruby
str = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. " * 10
outarr = str.scan(/[^ ].{0,76}/)
outarr.each{ |line| puts "> %s" % line }
erlang
wrapper(String, Times, Length) ->
StrList = lists:reverse(formatter(string:copies(String, Times), Length, [])),
lists:foreach(fun(Str) -> io:format("~p~n", [Str]) end, StrList).

formatter([], _Length, Acc) -> Acc;
formatter(String, Length, Acc) when length(String) > Length - 1->
{Head, Tail} = lists:split(Length - 1, String),
formatter(string:strip(Tail), Length, [[$>, $ | Head] | Acc]);
formatter(String, Length, Acc) ->
formatter([], Length, [[$>, $ | String] | Acc]).