I feel like I am missing something when I look at dbms_system. There are routines for setting integer and boolean parameter values in another session: dbms_system.set_bool_param_in_session dbms_system.set_int_param_in_session What about setting string values? For instance, I would like to do the equivalent of this in another users session: ALTER SESSION SET use_stored_outlines=CIM_TUNE but via dbms_system when the user logs on, or dynamically. I know I can use execute immediate in a trigger, but that does not help with changing the value in a current session. Any ideas? Hopefully this is not a D'Oh! moment. :) Jared Still Certifiable Oracle DBA and Part Time Perl Evangelist Oracle Blog: http://jkstill.blogspot.com Home Page: http://jaredstill.com