David None of your tests so far show you which directory you are actually in. It is possible that some kind soul has put a sqlplus shell script earlier in the PATH than the Oracle sqlplus executable which does something like: cd some-directory $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/bin/sqlplus So: to check this, you try the following: orapr1@r3prdci1> *which sqlplus* On most unixes *which* should tell you if you have a script in the way (and where it is hiding). Otherwise, try orapr1@r3prdci1> *pwd* orapr1@r3prdci1> *sqlplus user/pass* SQL>* !pwd* Are you in the same directory as before? Another way you could end up in a different directory is if your shell (eg ksh) runs a login, .profile, or other startup file (like .bashrc) which includes a *cd* command. Check *man ksh* for the files that are executed when you launch a new shell. HTH Regards Nigel