This function

function GetExpendituresBySubElement
lparameters lnSubElement 
local lnOldWorkArea, lnRetVal
dimension lnRetval(1)
lnOldWorkArea = select(0)

select  sum(amount) ;
from tip ;
inner join ledger on ledger.tip_id = tip.tip_id and source="RTA" ;
where val(substr(sponsor_id,5,2)) = lnSubelement; 
into Array lnRetVal

select(lnOldWorkArea)
return iif(isnull(lnRetVal),0,lnRetVal)

seems to work OK when called with a single value like this

? GetExpendituresBySubelement(2)

But when embedded in another select like this

select *, GetExpendituresBySubelement(elementnum) as expended ;
from rta_elements ;
order by elementnum

I get only 0's and *'s. Can someone please explain?

Thanks