I tried in 9.2.0.6 SQL>create table email_request_queue (profile_id number, status varchar2(1),request_branch varchar2(03), effective_date date); Table created. SQL>insert into email_request_queue values(7,'S','998','30-APR-2006'); 1 row created. SQL>commit; Commit complete. SQL> $ sh -v x.sh exp user@tns tables=email_request_queue file=x.dmp statistics=none query=\"WHERE PROFILE_ID = 7 AND STATUS = \'S\' AND request_branch BETWEEN \'0\' AND \'999\' AND trunc\(EFFECTIVE_DATE\) \<\= trunc\(TO_DATE\(\'30-APR-2006\',\'dd-Mon-yyyy\'\)\)\" About to export specified tables via Conventional Path ... . . exporting table EMAIL_REQUEST_QUEUE 1 rows exported Export terminated successfully without warnings. $ SELECT clause is not allowed inside the QUERY clause. Per Documentation the Query clause internally does a horizontal filtering. http://download-west.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10501_01/server.920/a96652/ch01.htm#1005843 HTH GovindanK -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l