Came across this MOS note How to Determine the SQL_ID of a SQL Statement in a PL/SQL Block (Doc ID 741724.1) As part of the note it goes on to say that "The SQL statement within the PL/SQL block is actually stored separately, but you cannot see it because: * every sql statement in a PL/SQL block is stored as capital letters * every comment and INTO clause are removed If that is the case does it not have implications for the optimizer related to performance and statement tuning. .. Given that all hints are also removed Wondering if someone has done some research and blogging on this topic Regards Please visit our website at http://financialservicesinc.ubs.com/wealth/E-maildisclaimer.html for important disclosures and information about our e-mail policies. For your protection, please do not transmit orders or instructions by e-mail or include account numbers, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l