Re: Getting the first matching record???

In article <334bd241.9605767_at_news.cac.psu.edu>, zlm101_at_psu.edu says...
>
> I have a large table (about 4 million rows) that I need to search
> through. Although the query I'm using can result to multiple rows, I
> only need the first matching row. This query will be executed probably
> a hundred thousand times. So I really need to optimize it
>
> What is the most efficient way of getting the first matching record
> PL/SQL? and Pro*C?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Please send your response to zlm101_at_psu.edu
>
>
 

Why is this necessary? Is your large table de-normalized? Does it contain repeating data that really should be broken into parent-child tables? This is going to be a problem *forever*. The cursor tactic will work, but it seems like a design decision that will haunt you.

-- 
Frances Edelstein
Author of "Learning Oracle Database Programming"
Relational Business Systems
fran_at_rbsbooks.com
http://www.rbsbooks.com