hi, first: about that bug, i'll defiantly file it. second: when i migrated this table from mssql to monetdb5 I intentionally inserted it in that order (recid,ft,val). i used COPY INTO while supplying a file that i prepared in advanced with such a sorting. when i first decided to test monetdb5 i did it because i understood it should perform better than row-oriented DBMSs (like mssql), especially in CRM-like applications. so... i now understand that monetsdb5 is actually being expected to perform BAD in that specific situation i described before (in my previous message). from my experience in building CRM applications, that kind of "left join" according to unique number (recid) is very common in CRM applications. am i missing something here?? Thanks again, ewilde.