On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 15:41:34 +1000, Mark Richard <mrichard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > The where clause must be processed first - since it removes atomic records > of data. Next the group by has to be applied to determine the values of > max(sal). This allows the having clause to be applied (which I tend to > think of as "where clauses applied after group by"). Finally the order by > can be applied to ensure the result set appears in the desired order. > After recent discussions on this list regarding nested sub-queries, don't assume that Oracle will always process the WHERE clause first. (Check the archives ) The simple query in the previous post won't be a problem, but it is nonetheless a dangerous assumption. Jonathan Gennick where are you? - care to comment? Jared -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l