No errors or results are returned, the query just never times out...

Thanks for your time - I believe you are on the right track,...

I like that one...

But what if the row order changes?

SET NOCOUNT ON

DECLARE @MyTable TABLE

(

ColA     INT,

ColB     VARCHAR(10)

)

INSERT INTO @MyTable VALUES (1,'AAAA')

INSERT INTO @MyTable VALUES...

You could do that of couse... But I was hoping for a solution along the lines of Noel's solution - ordering by something...

You may have a point there

And even though it may not be useful to the original problem, I think the following is an interesting problem:

Write...

Stealing ideas of everyone else, I suggest the following:

SELECT * from #Numbers

order by

convert(int, reverse(parsename(reverse(Number),1))),

convert(int, reverse(parsename(reverse(Number),2))),

convert(int, reverse(parsename(reverse(Number),3))),

convert(int, reverse(parsename(reverse(Number),4)))

Maybe something like this?

create table CUST

(CUSTOMER varchar(10), CREDIT_LIMIT int)

go

create table ITEMS

(CUSTOMER varchar(10), DUE_DATE datetime, AMOUNT decimal(6,2))

go

insert into CUST

select

'CUST01',        1000

union all select

'CUST02',        800

union all select

'CUST03',        1500

insert into ITEMS

select

'CUST01',       '2005-07-12',    60.00

union all...

You need to join the two tables. If you post the table definitions, I am sure we can help you write a join

I...

Both my servers have Windows 2000 SP4...

Could you post definitions of all tables involved and a description of what you are trying to achieve? Some sample data would also be helpful.

Thanks, Frank...   Although this is a very nice trick that might be useful in some situations, I agree with your remarks.

I have found My computer, right clicked, chosen properties and found the MSDTC tab. But there is nothing about security...

Thanks for your help...

Very nice.... learned a new trick there   (column RunningTot should be nullable in order for your example to run).

Good to hear - but this question was quite hard for a newbie question

Mike, you are probably right

Are the DRAW_NUMBERs null? And do you need all of them to be null? Then try this:

select DRAW_ID from [Draw table] where

DRAW_NUMBER1 is null or

DRAW_NUMBER2 is null or

DRAW_NUMBER3 is...