Simon, try something like (untested): <dtml-unless thing_cookie> <dtml-call "REQUEST.set('thing_cookie','default value for the cookie')"> </dtml-unless> You may need to change the unless stuff, to something like <dtml-unless "REQUEST.cookies.has_key('thing_cookie')">, or similar. hth Phil phil.harris@zope.co.uk ----- Original Message ----- From: Blandford, Simon [BSS Audio UK] To: 'zope@zope.org' Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 2:10 PM Subject: [Zope] In DTML, no cookie then default. How? Hi, I have worked out how to store cookies and retreive them in DTML to store preferences on a form. Question. If the cookie isn't there yet or gets deleted/rejected etc. How do I insert a default value into the name space? What I need is something like... if <thing> isn't there then <thing>=some default value. What would solve my problems would be if <dtml-let> didn't need a closing </dtml-let>. Background... This cookie is used to enter a preference value in a form, thus... <tr> <th align="left">Batch Size</th> <td><input type='integer' name='batch_size:int' size=2 value="&dtml.missing-batch_size;" /></td> </tr> When the form is entered the cookie is set to the value inserted by the user, thus... <dtml-if "REQUEST.has_key('batch_size')"> <dtml-call "RESPONSE.setCookie('batch_size', batch_size, expires='Wed, 19 Feb 2020 14:28:00 GMT')"> </dtml-if> When the user comes back to the form, the value of batch_size is magically read from the cookie as a default again. Problem... The form is called for the first time so there is no cookie. How do I set batch_size to a default value? Regards, Simon.