Karl,
> BTW, the other posted "cleaner" model doesn't work for me.  If there is NO
> row in the subtable that matches, the other version returns nothing (which
> makes sense since the initial select fails to match any rows as one of the
> things its trying to match is missing.)
Ah, wasn't thinking of that case.    Problem with not really knowing what the 
database is about.
-- 
Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco