I'm not clear on what you tried? This looks like my original export script which is giving me the bad access path (without the index). My question was how to add a hint or some other method to force use of the index as the for some profiles the script is now taking over an hour instead of 5 minutes. Thanks, Jay Miller Sr. Oracle DBA x68355 -----Original Message----- From: GovindanK [mailto:gkatteri@xxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 6:00 PM To: Miller, Jay; oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: Export - can I use a hint or set a session level value? I tried in 9.2.0.6 SQL>create table email_request_queue (profile_id number, status varchar2(1),request_branch varchar2(03), effective_date date); Table created. SQL>insert into email_request_queue values(7,'S','998','30-APR-2006'); 1 row created. SQL>commit; Commit complete. SQL> $ sh -v x.sh exp user@tns tables=email_request_queue file=x.dmp statistics=none query=\"WHERE PROFILE_ID = 7 AND STATUS = \'S\' AND request_branch BETWEEN \'0\' AND \'999\' AND trunc\(EFFECTIVE_DATE\) \<\= trunc\(TO_DATE\(\'30-APR-2006\',\'dd-Mon-yyyy\'\)\)\" About to export specified tables via Conventional Path ... .. . exporting table EMAIL_REQUEST_QUEUE 1 rows exported Export terminated successfully without warnings. $ SELECT clause is not allowed inside the QUERY clause. Per Documentation the Query clause internally does a horizontal filtering. http://download-west.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10501_01/server.920/a96652/ch01 ..htm#1005843 HTH GovindanK ----------------------------------------- This message is confidential and sent by TD Waterhouse solely for use by the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. This should not be deemed as an offer or solicitation, to buy or sell any product. Any 3rd party information contained herein was prepared by sources deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed. TD Waterhouse does not accept electronic instructions that would require an original signature. Information received by or sent from TD Waterhouse is stored, subject to review, and may be produced to regulatory authorities or others with a legal right to such. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l