Left Outer Join

Informix has introduced the syntax of LEFT OUTER JOIN with IDS 7.31. We have found instances where this syntax is useful. We have also found that queries written with LEFT OUTER JOIN can take up to 10 times as long as as a similar query written with just OUTER. When looking at the output from SET EXPLAIN the LEFT OUTER seems to take the most difficult path throughthe joined files while the OUTER takes the easiest. Is there some special environment variable that I am supposed to have set to make LEFT OUTER JOINs work better? Is there a better version of the optomizer that works with LEFT OUTER JOIN? We regularly run UPDATE STATISTICS. Thanks for any insight you can give. Dale Forrey, DBA email: forrey@wsu.edu Information Technology FAX: (509) 335-0540 Washington State University Phone: (509) 335-7098 PO Box 641222 Pullman, WA 99164-1222 ADABAS 6.2.2 on OS/390 Natural 2.2.8 Predict 3.4.1 Informix 7.31 UC3 on AIX 4.3.2 Microsoft SQL Server 6.5