Tom >"Hot spots" --- I've heard that some types of hot spots can be avoided >by setting up indexes in descending order. I'm not sure that I >followed the agrument completely and if anyone would like to jump in >here with an explanation I'd love to read it. I don't see how descending indexes should have an impact on hot spots. Do you mean reverse indexes? HTH Chris -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l