thanks for the reply

When the query is created the return type will be known so it's possible to know the desired return type at compile time that will be what is used as the template class.

I'm mainly searching for a way to implement a behavior pattern that is more or less generic without having to create subclasses that don't do much more than just handle different return types.

I'll have a play around this evening with what you mentioned in your reply and see if that solves my problems

cheers
borker