Thanks for the response. As of right now I do not back up old statistics, but I might make it a = practice now.=20 None of the tables where dropped or recreated. Columns were added to a = few tables but I need to verify if any of the tables in the query were = effected.=20 The database was shutdown before the application upgrade for backups, = would that erase the contents of the sys.col_usage$ table? The tables in the query are application tables, Materialized views and = one Remote table. Would histograms affect whether Oracle chose to do a NL or a HJ? -----Original Message----- From: Wolfgang Breitling [mailto:breitliw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Friday, May 06, 2005 11:21 AM To: Ignizio, Richard Cc: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: 9.2.0.6 Optimizer issue Did the application upgrade touch the tables used in this query such=20 that they would have been dropped and recreated? This would wipe out the = predicate usage history on which "size auto" depends when deciding which = columns to collect histograms on. You can validate that by checking table sys.col_usage$. Or simply=20 compare the statistics from before (you DO backup your statistics, don't = you) to now and see if some histograms went missing. Ignizio, Richard wrote: > Here is the oddity/question, Last weekend we had an application = upgrade =3D > and I had to re-analyzed the database. The difference in the way I =3D > gathered the stats changed as well for the method_opt I changed 'FOR = ALL =3D > INDEXED COLUMNS SIZE SKEWONLY' to 'FOR ALL INDEXED COLUMNS SIZE AUTO'. = =3D > Last week the report ran in less than 15 minutes. Would this change be = =3D > the make that much of a difference? >=20 > I normally do not analyze the database often because the database is = =3D > running optimally and there are no Huge changes to the database.=3D20 >=20 > 9.2.0.6 32-bit > Sun Solaris 2.8 >=20 >=20 > Rich >=20 >=20 > -- > //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l >=20 --=20 Regards Wolfgang Breitling Centrex Consulting Corporation www.centrexcc.com -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l