note Masem If you don't mind a few extra SQL calls, you can do a pseudo linked-list; that is, have each element have a 'previous' entry that points to the unique ID of the next element in the list, or NULL if this is the first entry. Then you can do a loop over a SQL statement such as: <CODE> my @order; my $sth_1 = $dbh->prepare( "SELECT id FROM TABLE WHERE previous IS NULL" ) or die $DBI->errstr; my $sth_2 = $dbh->prepare( "SELECT id FROM TABLE WHERE previous IS ?" ) or die $DBI->errstr; $sth_1->execute() or die $DBI->errstr; if ( $sth_1->rows() > 0 ) { my ($id) = $sth_1->fetchrow_array(); push @order, $id; $sth_2->execute( $id ) or die $DBI->errstr; while ( $sth_2->rows() > 0 ) { my ( $id ) = $sth_2->fetchrow_array(); push @order, $id; $sth_2->execute( $id ) or die $DBI->errstr; } } </CODE> (That code could probably be optimized for logic of course.) ----------------------------------------------------- <A HREF="http://mneylon.masemware.com/">Dr. Michael K. Neylon</A> - <a href="mailto:mneylon-pm@masemware.com">mneylon-pm@masemware.com</a> || "You've left the lens cap of your mind on again, Pinky" - The Brain "I can see my house from here!" It's not what you know, but knowing how to find it if you don't know that's important 145733 145733