Hi all , it's on 9.2.0.6. SQL > desc dba_data_files ERROR: ORA-04043: object dba_data_files does not exist so one of my friend did a SQL> alter view dba_data_files compile ; though it erred out saying "unique key violation in OBJ$" , the next time SQL > desc dba_data_files worked . my question is , can we compile data dictionary views like this ? OR it is to be avoided strictly ? does oracle support this ? Please advice. TIA. Prem -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l