Sorry, Jared for the cryptic request. It is a complex process to set up the tables, etc, but once they are set, we run a stored proc that works on these tables - and the SQL code seems very simple - selects, inserts, and updates [even those are simple, nothing fancy ]. However, the processing factor takes long sometimes (not all the times). I was hoping to look for *extraneous* factors (outside the code) that can affect the processing and if anyone on this list has any experience like that. Thanks, -- Pradeep ________________________________ From: Jared Still [mailto:jkstill@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 3:17 PM To: Pradeep Chetal Cc: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Query processing takes very variable time On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 5:46 AM, Pradeep Chetal <Pradeep.Chetal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Without going into complete details, has anyone on the list seen something like that? Any ideas. Without going into complete explanations, yes. Jared Still Certifiable Oracle DBA and Part Time Perl Evangelist Pradeep Chetal Sr. Director - Infrastructure Architecture Mformation Technologies Inc. Switchboard: +1 732 692 6200 Visit WWW.MFORMATION.COM and see how the MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER can help you to transform your business Please consider the environment before printing