problem with left outer join

[WilliamR]

At the risk of confusing misuk11 further, I prefer to write joins the other way round, in the way that my brain considers "forwards". My thinking here (and I appreciate other people seem to be wired up differently) is that you would not generally write

AND 'Smith' = e.ename

and SQL syntax does not allow you to write

AND NULL IS e.deptno

You instead put the the column to test on the left, and the value or expression you have already established on the right. Thus,

AND e.ename = 'Smith'
AND e.deptno IS NOT NULL

and likewise

SELECT x, y, z
FROM   tmp_epg_txs_ids etd
     , txs_containers tc
     , aspect_ratios ar
     , formats f
     , ancsvc st
     , epg_templates et
WHERE  tc.id = etd.id
AND    ar.id (+) = tc.aspect_ratio_id
AND    f.id (+) = tc.format_id
AND    st.ancsvc_cod (+) = tc.ansv_method_st_code
AND    et.id (+) = tc.epg_template_id;

SELECT x, y, z
FROM   tmp_epg_txs_ids etd
       JOIN txs_containers tc ON tc.id = etd.id
       LEFT OUTER JOIN aspect_ratios ar ON ar.i = tc.aspect_ratio_id
       LEFT OUTER JOIN formats f ON f.id = tc.format_id
       LEFT OUTER JOIN ancsvc st ON st.ancsvc_cod = tc.ansv_method_st_code
       LEFT OUTER JOIN epg_templates et ON et.id = tc.epg_template_id;

Whichever way around you write it, all SQL cares about is that the (+) operator is immediately to the right of the key from the outer joined table.