I was just looking through Oracle9i Net Services Reference Guide, Release 2 (9.2), Part Number A96581-02 and it has all the parameters defined in detail --- it just doesn't really tell you how they work together. One doesn't always have the luxury of an Oracle Names environment. I have to work in a mixed environment. Some of the databases are described in Oracle Names, some have to be accessed via tnsnames.ora. Some of them I can't touch the listener (or even see it's parameters), others I set up the listener myself. If I set up the whole thing then, "yes", all I need is the alias (whether from tnsnames or onames). If someone else set it up then the fun begins. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l