sub checkDuplicateName
{

	## args
	my($db, $name)	= @_;

	## important! do not forget to quote name
	$quotedName	= $db->quote( $name );

	## select statement to count number of occurences
	my $select	= "select count(*) from customers where names=$quotedName";

	## atomic fetch
	my( $toReturn )	= $db->selectrow_array( $select );

	## return value
	return $toReturn;

}