Regarding the first problem (limiting results to page-size subsets with MS SQL), I use a nested select that I picked up from a DBA much craftier than myself, and I use it in code like the following (using an arbitrary 'parts' table with fields 'partno' and 'custno'):

my $perpage = '25';
my $curpage = $q->param('curpage') || 1; # Assumes $q is a CGI object
my $custno = $q->param('custno');
my $offset = $curpage*$perpage;
my $orderby = 'partno';

my $totalcount = @{ $dbh->selectrow_arrayref(
        qq{SELECT count(*) FROM parts WHERE custno = '$custno'}
        ) }[0];

# Next four lines limit the results of the LAST page's data, in case o
+f a short page.
my $reccount = $perpage;
if (($totalcount - $offset) < 0) {
    $reccount = $totalcount-$offset+$perpage;
}

# Now build the select (read inside out)

(my $select = <<ENDOFSQL) =~ s/^\s*#.*\n//gm;

SELECT * FROM (
    SELECT top $reccount * FROM (

        SELECT top $offset *
         FROM parts WHERE custno = '$custno'
        ORDER BY
            $orderby DESC

    ) top_data
    ORDER BY $orderby ASC
) page_data
ORDER BY $orderby DESC

ENDOFSQL

my $dataref = $dbh->selectall_arrayref($select,{Columns=>{}}) || die '
+Whoops!';
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The main select gets everything past the $offset, it's then wrapped in a select that flips the order and gets just the TOP $reccount of the first set, in turn that's wrapped in a last outer select which just flips the order back right-side-up.

Anyone else use something like this?

I know I'm wasting a few cycles doing the $totalcount lookup, but I also use that number to generate the page navigation links. In fact, I might ask for critique of my navLinks() sub here at some point, I think it's kinda nifty.