my $query = <<"SQL"; insert into swma_temp_table (m_serial,m_start,m_end,m_stat,m_product) select '$serialno',to_date('$row->[5]', 'YYYY-MM-DD'),to_date('$row->[6]', 'YYYY-MM-DD'),'$row->[17]','$row->[9]' from dual where exists (select NULL from servers where host_serial='$serialno') SQL my $stmt = $dbh->prepare($query) or die "prepare failed: " . $dbh->errstr(); $stmt->execute() or die "That serial number is not in our database: " . $stmt->errstr(); #print $query.";\n -- \n";