public function dlookup($column, $table, $where = '', $replacements = '', $cache = false, $highlight = false) {

        // run the query
        $this->query('
            SELECT
                ' . $column . '
            FROM
                ' . $this->_escape($table) .
                ($where != '' ? ' WHERE ' . $where : '') . '
            LIMIT 1
        ', $replacements, $cache, false, $highlight);

        // if query was executed successfully and one or more records were returned
        if (isset($this->last_result) && $this->last_result !== false && $this->returned_rows > 0) {

            // fetch the result
            $row = $this->fetch_assoc();

            // if there is only one column in the returned set
            // return as a single value
            if (count($row) == 1) return array_pop($row);

            // if more than one columns, return as an array
            return $row;

        }

        // if error or no records
        return false;

    }