For execution speed alone how about use of NO_MERGE in the IN-LINE view and a ROWNUM > 1 in the wrapper. SELECT * from (select /*+ NO_MERGE */ ..... FROM TABLE ) where rownum > 1 Here's an example trace of such an approach showing the query completes, then results get thrown out thus nothing fetched: Rows Row Source Operation ------- --------------------------------------------------- 0 COUNT (cr=449 r=265 w=0 time=367894 us) 0 FILTER (cr=449 r=265 w=0 time=367868 us) --<<< ROWNUM>1 throwing everything away 6392 VIEW (cr=449 r=265 w=0 time=365293 us) 6392 WINDOW SORT (cr=449 r=265 w=0 time=356179 us) 6392 WINDOW SORT (cr=449 r=265 w=0 time=320477 us) 6392 WINDOW SORT (cr=449 r=265 w=0 time=295220 us) 6392 HASH JOIN OUTER (cr=449 r=265 w=0 time=265567 us) 6392 TABLE ACCESS FULL REFRDEL_DELETE_CNT (cr=334 r=154 w=0 time=147566 us) 4019 VIEW (cr=115 r=111 w=0 time=105388 us) 4019 SORT GROUP BY (cr=115 r=111 w=0 time=103924 us) 49313 TABLE ACCESS FULL REFRDEL_DELETE_PROJ_ID (cr=115 r=111 w=0 time=67391 us) Larry G. Elkins From: oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of kyle Hailey Sent: Friday, June 04, 2010 1:58 AM To: ukja.dion@xxxxxxxxx Cc: rjfeighery@xxxxxxxxx; Oracle-L List Subject: Re: Wrapping Query in "select *" changes execution path I was wondering this myself, as I want to test execution speeds alone and leave out the data fetching overhead. I was thinking maybe to wrap the original query in a Common Table Expression, ie the "with clause" and use the hint /*+ materialize */ though have sat down to test this yet. Best Wishes Kyle Hailey -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l