returning records with count grouping

Hello all,

I hope somebody can help with this problem I'm having.

Basically, whenever you use count(*) with a single grouping, you always get a number back. So, for instance, if there was no record on table blah where column firstname equaled "mansoor", then this count would return a zero

"select count(*) from blah where firstname = 'mansoor'"

would get:

COUNT(*)

       0

Now, I can group and try to get a total count by using count like this:

"select count(*), firstname from blah where firstname = 'mansoor' group
by firstname"

but Oracle will reply with "no rows selected"

Is there any way in which I can force Oracle to give back a record something along the lines of:

COUNT(*) FIRSTNAME
-------- ---------

       0 mansoor

Any help in this matter is appreciated. Thank you.

Mansoor Zaidi

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Before you buy. Received on Mon Aug 14 2000 - 15:56:44 CDT