Stupid Newbie Question Concerning CGI and Reading Forward Slashes

[Joey C.]

Hi, I want to make a configuration script for something and it needs to
read inputs from an HTML file.  A couple of these inputs are textboxes
that the user inputs a path in.  For example:
Your Home Directory:
[/home/me/public_html/]

So, I'm using Python to read these inputs and store them in a
configuration file.  However, I cannot get the CGI to read the forward
slashes (/).  It just leaves a blank area.  So, for example:
Input: /usr/bin/sendmail
Reads: sendmail

Input: /home/me/public_html/
Reads: (Nothing.)

params = cgi.FieldStorage()

def writep(key, name):
  if params.has_key(key):
    fconfig.write(name + ": " + os.path.split(params[key].value)[1] +
";\n")

^ This is the function for handling a key that is read by the cgi.  The
"name" is the name that it stores the key under so the configuration
file looks like:
name: key;[Line Break]

However, is there a way to get it to read the forward slashes?  If
there isn't do you suggest having the user use a different character
and adding a function in the script to substitute a forward slash for
that character?

I tried looking for this for a long while, but maybe I didn't search
enough.  Thanks for all of your help and I'm sorry if this is a
question that has been asked 15 million times.

Joey C.