Arno, looking at your query I would like to ask a question for my own
information.
What is the difference between
SELECT
DISTINCT
pres.productid
FROM
presence pres
JOIN product prod ON (pres.productid = prod.id)
JOIN V_SYS_IDLISTS v ON (v.ID = pres.outletid)
WHERE
(pres.valuedate >= '2003-09-01') and (pres.valuedate < '2003-11-01')

And

SELECT
DISTINCT
pres.productid
FROM
presence pres
,product prod ON
,V_SYS_IDLISTS v ON
WHERE
(pres.productid = prod.id)
And
(v.ID = pres.outletid)
and
(pres.valuedate >= '2003-09-01') and (pres.valuedate < '2003-11-01')


(not looking at the tables per se, just using them as examples for the
difference in join syntax)