Returning records

 Oracle V7.3.2.3.2
 DecAlpha Decunix

 Please email response to alt_at_interchange.co.uk

 Question:

         Is there a way, using Oracle, of firing off a SELECT statement which  will return a single row based on a passed key WITHOUT having to use ORDER BY  and LIMIT TO? And then to fire off subsequent SELECT's that will return the  next row in key sequence (ONE AT A TIME). We don't want to use PL/SQL !

 Discussion:

        Using the ISAM file system, a programmer can specify a key and read a  record from a file that matches this key or is the next record in key sequence from it.

         Furthermore, it is then possible to read each record in ascending key  sequence - in simplicity this involves a singular file read for the next  record.

         In order to preserve compatibility with ISAM, the short-term  requirement is to mimic this processing, but using Oracle. A solution has  been devised to do this, however it involves building up sets of rows,  performing an order by and then fetching each row in turn.

         This has an impact on performance, especially as in a lot of cases  only the first few records need to be processed from a potentially large  record set.

 Thanks for your help.

 Al

-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own Received on Wed Jan 06 1999 - 03:39:17 CST