Hi Wolfgang They are indeed equivalent . I think the proof is available in Sql perfromance tuning by Mark Gurry regards Hrishy > Likewise for not exists: > > do something (select, update, delete) > where < some predicates> > and not exists ( select 'x' from tableA, tableB > where < some regular predicates > and < some > > Regards > > Wolfgang Breitling > Centrex Consulting Corporation > www.centrexcc.com > AIM: WBreitling > > > > -- > //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l > > > > -- > //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l > > > ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try it now. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/ -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l