Ok, used the +0 and worked. On v1.56 I was used with setting up a high granularity data column (col04Int - part of the primary key) with a True/false (0/1) type of column (ColDetSmIntFlag) to boost the selectivity of the index IXColDetSmIntFlag. I kept the index with that configuration for a "just in case". (The stat of the index is 0,000001407...)
Set, don't get me wrong, I am very gratefull for your help and for Firebird, but saying that a Natural on a big table seems better than an index doesn't compute for me, and I've been using Firebird since Interbase and Oracle since v6 (as DBA BTW). At a least case scenario it should use the PK when there is a declared join using the PK. For me, the new optimizer is wierd and highly illogical. Thanks Andrew
