Catalog Index doesnt work on alias columns

Question

We have a table with a text column on which we have created a catalog index. The catalog index doesnt work when I create a view of the table with alias column names. Any ideas suggestions.

Answer 1

Interestingly it looks like it does use the index, at least in 11g, as demonstrated below. Can you post a similar demonstration showing exactly what it is that you are trying that does not use the index, along with your version?
SCOTT@orcl_11g> CREATE TABLE a_table (text_column  VARCHAR2 (60))
  2  /
Table created.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> INSERT INTO a_table VALUES ('rainbow bridge')
  2  /
1 row created.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> CREATE INDEX catalog_index ON a_table (text_column)
  2  INDEXTYPE IS CTXSYS.CTXCAT
  3  /
Index created.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> CREATE VIEW a_view AS
  2  SELECT text_column AS alias_column
  3  FROM   a_table
  4  /
View created.
SCOTT@orcl_11g> SET AUTOTRACE ON EXPLAIN
SCOTT@orcl_11g> SELECT * FROM a_view WHERE CATSEARCH (alias_column, 'rainbow', '') > 0
  2  /
ALIAS_COLUMN
rainbow bridge
Execution Plan
Plan hash value: 2287020511
| Id  | Operation                   | Name          | Rows  | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time     |
|   0 | SELECT STATEMENT            |               |     1 |    44 |     3   (0)| 00:00:01 |
|   1 |  TABLE ACCESS BY INDEX ROWID| A_TABLE       |     1 |    44 |     3   (0)| 00:00:01 |
|*  2 |   DOMAIN INDEX              | CATALOG_INDEX |       |       |            |          |
Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
   2 - access("CTXSYS"."CATSEARCH"("TEXT_COLUMN",'rainbow','')>0)
Note
   - dynamic sampling used for this statement
SCOTT@orcl_11g>