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Oracle has a nice?albeit non-standard?way to perform hierarchical queries: the CONNECT BY clause. Here's an example using Oracle's sample EMP table:
select lpad(' ',(Level-1)*3) || EName ||
' (' || Job || ')' as "Employee Tree"
from Emp
connect by prior EmpNo = Mgr
start with Mgr is null;
And here are the resulting rows:
Employee Tree
------------------------
KING (PRESIDENT)
JONES (MANAGER)
SCOTT (ANALYST)
ADAMS (CLERK)
FORD (ANALYST)
SMITH (CLERK)
BLAKE (MANAGER)
ALLEN (SALESMAN)
WARD (SALESMAN)
MARTIN (SALESMAN)
TURNER (SALESMAN)
JAMES (CLERK)
CLARK (MANAGER)
MILLER (CLERK)
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This was first published in May 2002

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