I create 1 lot. every lot is having 10000 unit every unit is having 100 measurement. hence : lot - 1 row entry unit - 10000 row entries measurement - 1000000 row entries Currently, I am having JOIN statement as follow (1st case) SELECT measurement_type.value, measurement.value, measurement_unit.value FROM measurement_type INNER JOIN (measurement_unit INNER JOIN (measurement INNER JOIN (lot INNER JOIN unit ON (lot_id = fk_lot_id)) ON (fk_unit_id = unit_id)) ON (fk_measurement_unit_id = measurement_unit_id)) ON (fk_measurement_type_id = measurement_type_id) WHERE lot_id = 7; I thought, I may optimized it using : (2nd case, Take note on the WHERE statement) SELECT measurement_type.value, measurement.value, measurement_unit.value FROM measurement_type INNER JOIN (measurement_unit INNER JOIN (measurement INNER JOIN (lot INNER JOIN unit ON (lot_id = fk_lot_id) WHERE lot_id = 7) ON (fk_unit_id = unit_id)) ON (fk_measurement_unit_id = measurement_unit_id)) ON (fk_measurement_type_id = measurement_type_id); My thought is as follow : For 1st case, my visualization is : (lot join unit) lot_id unit_id -> 6 rows =============== 1 1 1 2 1 3 2 4 2 5 2 6 measurement join (lot join unit) lot_id unit_id measurement_id -> 18 rows ======================== 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 4 1 2 5 1 2 6 1 3 7 1 3 8 1 3 9 2 4 10 2 4 11 2 4 12 2 5 13 2 5 14 2 5 15 2 6 16 2 6 17 2 6 18 measurement join (lot join unit) where lot_id = 1 lot_id unit_id measurement_id -> 9 rows ======================== 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 4 1 2 5 1 2 6 1 3 7 1 3 8 1 3 9 For 2nd case, my visualization is : (lot join unit where lot_id = 1) lot_id unit_id -> 3 rows =============== 1 1 1 2 1 3 measurement join (lot join unit where lot_id = 1) lot_id unit_id measurement_id -> 9 rows ======================== 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 2 4 1 2 5 1 2 6 1 3 7 1 3 8 1 3 9 During the process, 2nd case only need maximum 9 rows, compare to 1st case 18 rows. However, the 2nd case syntax is incorrect :( ERROR: syntax error at or near "WHERE" LINE 6: ... (lot INNER JOIN unit ON (lot_id = fk_lot_id) WHERE lot_... ^ Is there any way I may first perform filter on the small table, then only I use the filtered result for sub-sequence join? Instead of I first join into a very large table, only I perform filtering (which I assume will be slower) Thanks Thanks and Regards Yan Cheng CHEOK -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general