> > I wouldn't mind a "with visibility" switch for indexes that you could > throw when creating them for this purpose. But burdening all indexes > with this overhead when most wouldn't need it is not, IMHO, a good idea. > that would add complexity to the index code for... just one case? what about a set of functions instead... one function to create all necesary triggers to maintain a different table with a count for the table, and one function that retrieves that info select start_counter_on_table('table_name'); select get_counter_on_table('table_name'); of course, this could be usefull just for the case of "select * from table"... but that case is the whole problem... -- regards, Jaime Casanova (DBA: DataBase Aniquilator ;)