>> what about querying for inactive records? > > select a.id > from a > left outer > join b > on a.id = b.id > where b.id is null > >> And wouldn't that be more expensive to compute? > > no, not really, no more so than your typical outer join <snip> sweet! <tip author="Aleem Bawany" type="Microsoft Outlook"> SpamBayes is an excellent bayesian filter for Microsot Outlook - probably one of the best ones out there as of this writing. If you are looking to get rid of SPAM you must give it a try: http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/applications.html Along the same lines, another invaluable tool for Microsoft Outlook for more intelligent quotes ( > ): http://flash.to/oblivion/ </tip> aleem [ http://www.aleembawany.com/ ]