Hi Jurij,

Thanks for your input. I find these parameters in the 8i doc for ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG:

< QUOTE >
CURRENT
Specify CURRENT to manually archive the current redo log file group of the specified thread, forcing a log switch. If you omit the THREAD parameter, Oracle archives all redo log file groups from all enabled threads, including logs previous to current logs.

Restriction: You can use this clause only when your instance has the database open.

Note: If you specify a redo log file group for archiving with the CHANGE or CURRENT clause, and earlier redo log file groups are not yet archived, Oracle archives all unarchived groups up to and including the specified group.
< UNQUOTE >

< QUOTE >
ALL
Specify ALL to manually archive all online redo log file groups from the specified thread that are full but have not been archived. If you omit the THREAD parameter, Oracle archives all full unarchived redo log file groups from all enabled threads.
< UNQUOTE >


So I think ALL will NOT cause a log switch. CURRENT seems to do what I want - UNLESS it returns control before it has finished!

Yes, I realise that my present setup is pretty poor (but well intentioned - and usually works!).

Thanks again - DaPi