re: DBI error handling, I left it out of my example code snippet, but I tested with using the "or die" idiom you showed.

However, it doesn't fire off the die. Strangely, that statement seems to work just fine. It just taints in the $dbh in some way I can't put my finger on yet.

For what its worth, in terms of a more global error handling scheme for DBI I find the die's of RaiseError to be a little too drastic. Instead, I wire in my own error handling scheme, ie:

$dbh->{'HandleError'}=\&dbierror;

re: Possible CGI::Session bug, I scanned the modules RT queue and noted another utf8 related problem that's still open. Maybe I can help push along its resolution...

Thanks for your input!