That's an excellent point, and we're doing that. The initial compilation of each version of the query isn't a particular overhead, and it gives us the flexibility, as you say,...

Definitely haven't tried this option, will test when I get into the office later, and post back then! Thanks.

Actually, we're pushing back on the whole requirement to search for what...

Thanks. I'll repost the query, plus the resources to support it, but need to depersonalise the information beforehand. I agree with your point on MERGE, and usually avoid query hints,...

Oh, two additional pieces of information.

1. The query needs to run in milliseconds. Without the LEFT OUTER JOIN within X it does. With the JOIN, the results (obviously dependent...