help on "the" operator

[Shishir]

Hi Gurus!  if any function which returns the collection type , to show that collection object in tabular format we use "the" operator with dual table which has one row and one column like followings:  select * from  the (select  cast( <<function name l(parameters )>> as <<return obeject type>> ) from dual  )   my question is can i use any real table in my existing database other than "Dual" in above SQL . Does "the" operator looks for single records in inner SQL ( as returning records from dual does mean that single record and single column ) i means to say when i use real table then it gives the error   "ORA-01427 : single row subquery returns more than one row " i hope the operator looks for only one record . If it is that then can access the result wot i want by using real table because the parameters which r being passed in function are columns from the table wot i want to use ? looking for help......... thanx in advance     Shishir Kumar Mishra Agni Software (P) Ltd., Bangalore-560055, India www.agnisoft.com