If all you need is a count of the items why not issue
Select count(distinct threads) as ctr from messages
Jack ;-)=
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Lazor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 11:53 PM
Subject: how do you format this query?
> Hi =) Could you help me with creating a proper query? I have a table
that
> stores messages with a field for the message id, thread, and parent. The
> goal is to create a query that gives me the total threads. I read in a
> book and found the DISTINCT key allows me to run a query like this:
>
> select DISTINCT threads from messages;
>
> Then all I have to do is count the total number of rows returned. I'm
> concerned this query will create unnecessary overhead as the number of
> messages in the archive exceeds tens of thousands. Is there a query that
> will give me the information I'm looking for without creating the
overhead?
>
> -Ed
>
>
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