Indeed, there are many variables that affect the effectiveness of various solutions. If your users are going to often page to the last page, then caching the entire resultset may be a useful option. However, most applications show statistics that are heavily front-loaded. It's human nature. You are presented the first page, hopefully sorted by estimated usefulness - If you don't find it there, you will probably page down a page - maybe 2, less likely 3, possibly 4, but probably not more than 5. Therefore, caching the entire resultset is usually not advisable. However, it still matters exactly what your users will do as to your absolute-best solution.

Given the fact that the user usage statistics are generally not known until *after* implementation (imagine that), I go for the 'scrolling window' solution - only ever get and display the data you need.

Here is a link to a previous discussion of the subject:

[url]http://ora.dbasupport.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=5480[/url]

HTH,

- Chris