Well that worked perfectly. Thanks so much. Would it be ok to ask for more advice with the same module? Suppose my data may take the form of 'A|B*|C*|D', where i want to make the * a wild card, oracle "Like" query. Is it possible to add this functionality to your way of doing things? I can do it when the data is single values, for example 'A*', but I can't figure out how to make it all work together. Also does my post get bumped when I reply?