print "Errors are: $sth->err\n";
print "I got out: ref($rec_ref)\n";

##</code><code>##

Errors are: DBI::st=HASH(0xe2478)->err
I got out: ref(HASH(0xf9d14))

##</code><code>##

if ($rec_ref->{'company'} ne "")        
                {
                %ref = %$rec_ref;
                $found = 1;
                }
        $dbh->disconnect();           

        if ($found) {
                return %rec;
        }
        else {
                return undef;
        }