Hi Peter, Mark & Giovanni , thanx for all ur replies.Got a better idea,but still a few more questions. Hi Peter : >Case 3 >------ >You will not be able to open the database since the >current redolog is missing. In this case,why will i not be able to open the database ? The only diff is i am not restoring from the backup. RESETLOGS will anyway open the database ... even if it inconsistent.is it not so ? Hi Giovanni : >Case 3: >it depends on what you mean with inconsistent, oracle reopens the >database restoring the db until a certain SCN. if you are able to >reopen the db it's consistent, i.e you see only the results of all >the transactions that were committed until that SCN. when i open with resetlogs w/o restoring from backup in this case, some of my comitted data may be the datafile and some may not be.This is what i meant as in-consistent ( not sure whether such a scenario is possibe !! ) All i need is to try these test cases on my test database. Thanx again , everybody. Regards, Prem. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l