Hi, i do not know what server do you use but if i run simple query on FB3 select o.* from partners p inner join orders o ON p.partid = o.partid WHERE p.country = 'Spain'; on non propagated with data tables, plan is: PLAN JOIN (O NATURAL, P INDEX (PK_PARTNERS)) but if i fill tables with test data and UPDATE INDEX STATISTICS i got plan PLAN JOIN (P INDEX (PARTNERS_IDX1), O INDEX (FK_ORDERS_PARTNERS)) then i suppose your real problem is your index statistics or selectivity of some values in joined fields regards, karol Bieniaszewski
correction in first plan ..
