oops. i forgot about the part in second db but i think i have an easier way. instead of changing the input value from $rec to $in, i have a conditional statement at top of record_form in db2 AFTER %rec = @_;

if ($in{'add_form'}) {
$rec{'Company'} = $in{'Company'};
etc
}

or you could do this to test if there are any values coming in
if ($in{'Company'}) {
$rec{'Company'} = $in{'Company'};
etc
}

if you put one of the above before the autogenerate line, i think you can even use autogenerate. (can't remember if i've done that.)

this is all that was missing from original attempt because you were already getting to the form. all my databases are in same folder so that's why i can use the script_link_url.

anyway, glad you got it working. but be sure you can modify the record using your coding! i know mine works setting $rec = $in