Howard, I the controlfile gets backed up last in a backup set (but before archivelogs) if I'm not mistaken. Therefore the controlfile timestamp should give me the point I can restore to before needing to apply many archivelogs - assuming my logic is correct. Chris Taylor "Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort." -- John Ruskin (English Writer 1819-1900) Any views and/or opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ingram Industries, its affiliates, its subsidiaries or its employees. -----Original Message----- From: Howard Latham [mailto:howard.latham@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 8:37 AM To: Taylor, Chris David Cc: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: RMAN Related question (Earliest restore point within an RMAN backup?) Surely this just means you have a backup of the Controlfile? Not the database? > I think I figured it out: > > (Windows) > Set NLS_DATE_FORMAT=DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS > > RMAN> list backup of controlfile; >-- Howard A. Latham -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l