And the results are: Doing the extra query to determine the existence runs faster (on the data I have here). That was the only solution I could originally think of (confirmed by Mark ... Thanks!), but I thought there HAD to be something faster that avoided the existence check. I will certainly hang on to the example from Stephane and hope I can remember where I put it when I need it. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html -----------------------------------------------------------------