This migh also help: select value from (select 'A' value from dual union select 'AA' value from dual union select chr(1)||'B' value from dual union select 'AAA' value from dual) where length(translate(value,'A'||chr(01)||chr(02)||chr(03)||chr(04)||chr(05)||chr(06)||chr(07)||chr(08)|| chr(11)||chr(12)||chr(14)||chr(15)||chr(16)||chr(17)||chr(18)||chr(19)||chr(20)|| chr(21)||chr(22)||chr(23)||chr(24)||chr(25)||chr(26)||chr(27)||chr(28)||chr(29)||chr(30)||chr(31),'A')) = length(value); - Vlad