Thanks for the input and the right syntax is /*+ ha ha ! */ :p -----Original Message----- From: Charlotte Hammond [mailto:charlottejanehammond@xxxxxxxxx] Subject: Re: Plea for Query Tuning Help Just to conclude on this topic - many thanks again for all the wonderful suggestions. . . I've learned a lot of tips and techniques and received a lot of hints (ha ha!) from this thread so once again a big thank you for corresponding! Charlotte -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l