Not Understanding the filter in Explain Plan - filter(NULL IS NOT NULL)

Question

Hi All,
Request your help in understanding the below scenario. (I am not aware of teh application and table details. Just trying to help my friend)
SQL> conn
Enter user-name: [email protected]
Enter password:
Connected.
SQL> select * from v$version;
BANNER
Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.3.0 - 64bi
PL/SQL Release 10.2.0.3.0 - Production
CORE    10.2.0.3.0      Production
TNS for Linux: Version 10.2.0.3.0 - Production
NLSRTL Version 10.2.0.3.0 - Production
--Checking the count in PO_LINES
SQL> select count(*) from po_lines;
  COUNT(*)
         0
--PO_LINES is a synonym
SQL> select object_type,owner from dba_objects where object_name = 'PO_LINES';
OBJECT_TYPE         OWNER
SYNONYM             APPS
--The synonym is pointing to PO.PO_LINES_ALL
SQL> select * from user_synonyms where synonym_name = 'PO_LINES';
SYNONYM_NAME                   TABLE_OWNER                    TABLE_NAME                     DB_LINK
PO_LINES                       PO                             PO_LINES_ALL
--But when counting PO.PO_LINES_ALL I am getting different result
SQL> select count(*) c from po.po_lines_all;
         C
      8828
--Explain plan of teh original query is
SQL> explain plan for
  2  select
  3  * from po_lines;
Explained.
SQL> select * from table(dbms_xplan.display);
PLAN_TABLE_OUTPUT
| Id  | Operation          | Name         | Rows  | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)|
|   0 | SELECT STATEMENT   |              |     1 |   252 |     0   (0)|
|*  1 |  FILTER            |              |       |       |            |
|   2 |   TABLE ACCESS FULL| PO_LINES_ALL |  8796 |  2164K|   106   (4)|
Predicate Information (identified by operation id):
   1 - filter(NULL IS NOT NULL)
--Now the object PO.PO_LINES_ALL is TABLE, not an mview.
SQL> select object_type,owner from dba_objects where object_name = 'PO_LINES_ALL';
OBJECT_TYPE         OWNER
TABLE               POSeek your help in understanding what is happening here.
Thanks in Advance,
jeneesh

Answer 1

Next time, prefix with APPS. when you show us the explain plan:
SQL> explain plan for
  2  select
  3  * from apps.po_lines;  -- added the prefix of owner.Just like you prefixed with PO. when you showed us the query on PO_LINES_ALL. It ensures that you are using the synonym which you showed us.
Btw. PO_LINES_ALL, could still be a VIEW given your overview of the situation.
Anyway a filter "NULL IS NOT NULL" is indicative that the optimizer performed something called semantic query optimization (SQO).
SQO is the process of deducing new predicates based upon a) existing predicates in your query (which there is none), b) added predicates to your query (eg. by a VPD policy function), and c) declared constraints on the tables invovled in your query.
A typical example of when a "NOT is NOT NULL" predicate will show up is when for instance in the EMP table there is a declared constraint on EMPNO like this:
check(EMPNO > 0)And your query would hold a predicate that is inconsistent with the constraint, for instance like this:
select *
from EMP
where EMPNO <= 0Oracle will deduce that EMPNO cannot be both greater than zero (constraint) as well as smaller than or equal to zero (your query predicate), and will transform the query into:
select *
from EMP
where EMPNO <= 0
  and NULL is NOT NULLThus preventing accessing the EMP table all together, and immediately returning this query with no data found.
Edited by: Toon Koppelaars on Mar 15, 2010 7:17 AM