Outer Joint Error

I get an error msg, "ORA-00933: SQL command not properly ended" when I try to execute the following outer join. Can somebody explain why using a function in the where clause prevents the use of an outer join? Or better yet, how to get around this problem.

select something
from tableA, tableB
where rtrim(a.name) = rtrim(b.name) (+)

TIA Pete Received on Thu Jun 03 1999 - 00:18:31 CDT