Yet more strings

CC's suggestion of using mysql_num_rows helped to clarify the problem rather than find a solution! The problem is with mysql not PHP. When I use: $resultp = mysql_query("select Primaryid from primarycodes where Code = '".$row[Primaryexpertise]."'") or die (mysql_error()); it doesn't return a resource id#, ie the query fails. mysql_num_rows returns 0. Using: $resultp = mysql_query("select Primaryid from primarycodes where Code LIKE '%$row[Primaryexpertise]%'") or die (mysql_error()); it works, mysql_num_rows returns 1. I have also checked the string length of $row[Primaryexpertise] (the value of which is Biology for example) and it shows that there are no "hidden" characters in the field value (ie strlen returns 7). Running all this at the mysql shell (is that the word?) results in the same errors. The row values are Primaryid (8) and Code (Biology). mysql>select Primaryid,Code from primarycodes where Code like '%Biology%'; \\returns the correct values mysql>select Primaryid,Code from primarycodes where Primaryid = 8; \\returns the correct values mysql>select Primaryid,Code from primarycodes where Code = 'Biology'; \\returns Empty set I'm no expert (obviously) but something seems odd here. Regards Mick Lloyd mjl@consultingrooms.com Tel: +44 (0)1684 560224