Hi, Well, further to my earlier SQL post, here's the code I'm trying to encapsulate, but it doesn't work ;-) The problem is one of getting a unique, integer, id from MySQL to use as a primary key for an INSERT. And no, an AUTO_INCREMENT column won't help here 'cos I need to know what the number is before I do the insert (it generates a reference number, which is used as the primary key, and needs to be given back to the person doing the submission...) Anyway, here's the Z SQL Method Code which goes into a MySQL DB connection: SELECT COUNT(*) as exist FROM sequences WHERE sequence=<dtml-sqlvar name type=string> <dtml-var sql_delimiter> <dtml-if "exist==0"> INSERT INTO sequences SET sequence=<dtml-sqlvar name type=string>, n=0 </dtml-if> <dtml-var sql_delimiter> UPDATE sequences SET n=LAST_INSERT_ID(n+1) WHERE sequence=<dtml-sqlvar name type=string> <dtml-var sql_delimiter> SELECT LAST_INSERT_ID() as number When I try to test the method, I get a NameError for exists, which I presume is coming from the dtml-if. Any idea what I'm doing wrong or other ways of solving this problem? cheers, Chris