Thanks Daniel, That helped my understanding further along , but it wasn't the full story . If I use $var(rc)=avp_db_load("$to/username","$avp(inbound)/LineIDs"); Then I still get no matches . But if I place entries in the uuid column of the table , then it works. I had assumed that since I don't use the uuid or the domain they could be null . In fact I tried it again with just a number in the uuid column of the entry I expected the avp_db_load to match , and it still worked . I then placed a single entry in the uuid column of a row that I didn't expect it to match and it still worked . I then placed two identical numbers in the UUID column and it still works ( see below for current table used in testing) So in summary it appears that there must be at least one value in the uuid column for it to work as expected . Cheers Hugh