>Thanks Cathy and Naomi. My understanding of SQL select continues to grow. As an aside, I understand from another thread that it is unwise to use a UDF in a select. In this example the only way to assemble the budget is with a UDF because it is spread over 60+ fields, each of which must be tested to make sure it meets certain criteria before it is added to the total. (This is the result of poor table design that originated 15+ years ago.) Nevertheless I have a function that iterates the fields and sums up the budget. So, given this, would it be best to create an empty field with the select and then run the function afterward? That's the only way I can think of except using the function directly in the SELECT but I was advised against this.

Yes, for this case I think it's better to run the select first creating an extra field and populate it with the replace afterwords. Add READWRITE clause for your cursor.