If it's a true cut-n-paste from your code there shouldn't really be any typos - unless your original code had typos of course. Maybe you're re-typing the code by hand, in which case typos can and do frequently crop up.

What WAS the error?

Stupidity.

As I mentioned, I had cut and pasted the code. The code which contained the actual error had been abbreviated in my original post and therefore wasn't shown. Here it is:

if ($numParams == 1)
{
    my $DBquery= $sth->execute($SearchPhrase);
}
elsif ($numParams == 2)
{
    my $DBquery= $sth->execute($SearchPhrase, $SearchSystem);
}
elsif ($numParams == 3)
{
    my $DBquery= $sth->execute($SearchPhrase, $begDate, $endDate);
}
elsif ($numParams == 3)
{
    my $DBquery= $sth->execute($SearchPhrase, $SearchSystem, $begDate,
+ $endDate);
}
[download]

If $numParams is 4, the execute statement will never be reached. By watching the trace, I was able to see that it wasn't happening, which pointed me to the last elsif.

I hate cutting and pasting code, because this always happens to me. However, I'm also aware that no one wants to dig through 500 lines of code when 25 would suffice.

My bad. Thanks again all!

If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me.