Teehan, Mark wrote: >Is there any way to tell if the optimizer has suddenly decided that it doesnt >like the contents of sys.aux_stat$ any more? > > > Optimizer is not a PHB. Do 10053 or do "select * from table(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY)" or do @?/rdbms/admin/utlxplp and you'll have a line which contains string "CPU costing" which can be in 3 states: On, Off or "Intel Inside". If your optimizer tells you that the CPU costing is on, then it uses the system statistics. -- Mladen Gogala Oracle DBA -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l