> > On Thu, Feb 24, 2005 at 09:00:46PM +0000, Charl Gerber wrote: > > I'm trying to create a function that takes 1 > > paramater (eg an integer) as input, then does 5 > > database updates or deletes in 5 different SQL > > statements and returns 5 integers (in one resultset) > > indicating how many rows were affected by the various > > updates/deletes. > > > > How do I do this? You could return an array like elein recommended.... > > How can I specify the names of the 5 output colums? but you won't have "names" associated with the output columns. To have something other than integers as the index (such as a string), you need to use an associative array. sub foo { my $integer = shift; my $ret1 = $dbh->do('some sql here'); my $ret2 = $dbh->do('some sql here'); # etc.... for 5 statements. my %hash = ( 'Column Label 1' => $ret1, 'Column Label 2' => $ret2, #..... etc... ); return \%hash; } So, you should read about associative arrays (aka hashes) and references. Rick ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 9: the planner will ignore your desire to choose an index scan if your joining column's datatypes do not match