The PEEK_BINDS hint sounds like a great idea to me. It would still be a little difficult in situations with COTS apps that don't allow you to insert hints, but if it was possible to set that hint alone in a stored outline (w/o a bunch of other hints forcing a fixed plan), or in a SQL profile or with dbms_advanced_rewrite, that would solve a lot of my headaches. Privileged/Confidential Information may be contained in this message or attachments hereto. Please advise immediately if you or your employer do not consent to Internet email for messages of this kind. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of this company shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it.