Re: Select count(*)

Under OnLine, the value of nrows is only updated by update statistics. If you don't do that on a periodic basis, then it may be quite outdated. Update Statistics also updates the LEVELS, LEAVES, NUNIQUE, and CLUSTcolumns for sysindexes for each index of a table. This is why it takes so long to run update statistics. The optimizer uses these columns to determine the quality of an index. Select COUNT(*) always returns the correct number of rows for a table atthe instant that you run it. If your select statement is simple (only one table) then it reads the value for number of rows from the table's RSAM header. It doen't need to go out to rows and count them. If you want to find out some of the other goodies stored in the RSAM header to a "tbcheck -pT <database>:<table>" on the table. It includes row size in bytes, pages allocated, current serial value, and more. -- Take Care -- Eric ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- AMAZING BUT TRUE... There is so much sand in Northern Africa that if it were spread out it would completely cover the Sahara Desert.