+my @specs;
+my $canontext;
+my $hooks = { Emsg => \$emsg, String => \$string,
+ Results => \@results, Specs => \@specs,
+ Canon => \$canontext
+ };
+
+if ($chk->method_exists('preparse')) {
+ $chk->call_method('preparse', h => $hooks);
+} else {
+ @specs= $chk->attr('multiple') ? (split m#[/|,]#, $string) : ($string);
+}