Large record count in fet$ for TEMP tablespace

[Casey A. Jordan]

When trying to select *  from DBA_FREE_SPACE_COALESCED  the query hangs.   It also hangs when trying to calculate free space from the DBA_FREE_SPACE view.  I looked in the sys.fet$ table and found that the TEMP tablespace has  21423 entries and I believe this is my problem.    Now for my questions.   1.  Is coalescing the best solution for this problem? 1.  Can I coalesce the tablespace without changing it to a permanent tablespace? 2.  Is there a faster way to drop the exents then the alter tablespace coalesce command?  I ran it for about 10 minutes and canceled it. 3.  Is this normal and do I need to coalesce the TEMP tablespace on a regular basis to avoid this happening again?     Thanks, CAJ