At 11:25 AM 18/10/2006, you wrote:

>Helen,
>
> > You want to return a descending set that has its rows in ascending
> > order, don't you? :-) With derived table support in Fb 2.0, it is
> > doable (if horrible!)
>
>Why do you say horrible?
>
>I have been using derived tables and they are dream!!!

Erm, not that derived tables are horrible (they are not!) but
recursive calls to SELECT FIRST to get the nth, followed by the
n-1th, followed by the n-2nd...etc...that's what I call horrible
(from a performance POV).

>They've simplified my life more times than I can remember.

I believe that. :-)

>IMHO, they are the best feature that has been added to
>Firebird/Interbase since I first started with IB (12+ years ago)

I believe that too; though I don't have any particular need for them
for the styles of retrieval I'm used to.

./heLen

>Sean
>
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