How do you tell what the HWM is of indexes? I did not see a blocks column in DBA_INDEXES? Also, I would assume that an 'index full scan' also reads up to the HWM. I have not been able to figure out what the difference between an 'index fast full scan' and an 'index full scan'. I thought it was that a fast full scan read at your multiblock read count and a full scan read 1 block at a time. However, some people on here said that a full scan can read at your multiblock read(however, I have never been able to get this to happen with several tests)? -------------- Original message -------------- > Ryan, > > D'oh, I should have mentioned the HWM (High Water Mark). > > In the case of a FULL TABLE SCAN (or a FAST FULL INDEX SCAN on an = > index), Oracle will read up to the HWM. That is, the point at which = > data is now or has ever been stored. Blocks above the HWM are known to = > be empty, so Oracle does not read them. If you have a table that = > contained 100 million rows, and you delete 80 million of them, the HWM = > will still be at the point where it was when the table contained 100 = > million rows. One can lower the HWM by re-organizing the table. In the = ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html -----------------------------------------------------------------