I just want to clarify that the following will always behave the way I think it's supposed to behave:- update tableA set date_field = case when date_field is null then some_date else date_field end; If the current value of date_field for the current record is null then set the date_field with some_date value otherwise keep the current value of date_field. Note: in the actual situation there'll be other fields that will always be updated in addition to this one field that needs to be conditionally updated. Chris -- Chris Velevitch Manager - Sydney Flash Platform Developers Group m: 0415 469 095 www.flashdev.org.au ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 2: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster