Thanks for your reply!
The @_ is unnecessary, and clean_sql() replaces SQL and ODBC characters with ASCI code, i.e, $sql=~s/\'/\' \& chr\(39\) \& \'/g;

Ok, so i'm using your code and i am getting the same results. when i search for status='DEPLOYED' or emp_user_name='*', it hangs and times out. I'll keep playing around with it tonight, i'll let you guys know what i find. BTW, running the SQL statement agains Access works just fine. I might have to switch to MYSQL : ). Thanks for all the replies... -Kiko