Oracle9i新增WITH语法，可以将查询中的子查询命名，放到SELECT语句的最前面。

一个简单的例子:?

SQL> WITH
2 SEG AS (SELECT SEGMENT_NAME, SUM(BYTES)/1024 K FROM USER_SEGMENTS GROUP BY SEGMENT_NAME),
3 OBJ AS (SELECT OBJECT_NAME, OBJECT_TYPE FROM USER_OBJECTS)
4 SELECT O.OBJECT_NAME, OBJECT_TYPE, NVL(S.K, 0) SIZE_K
5 FROM OBJ O, SEG S
6 WHERE O.OBJECT_NAME = S.SEGMENT_NAME (+)
7 ;
OBJECT_NAME OBJECT_TYPE SIZE_K
------------------------------ ------------------- ----------
DAIJC_TEST TABLE 128
P_TEST PROCEDURE 0
IND_DAIJC_TEST_C1 INDEX 128

通过WITH语句定义了两个子查询SEG和OBJ，在随后的SELECT语句中可以直接对预定义的子查询进行查询。从上面的例子也可以看出，使用WITH语句，将一个包含聚集、外连接等操作SQL清晰的展现出来。

WITH定义的子查询不仅可以使查询语句更加简单、清晰，而且WITH定义的子查询还具有在SELECT语句的任意层均可见的特点。

即使是在WITH的定义层中，后定义的子查询都可以使用前面已经定义好的子查询:?

SQL> WITH
2 Q1 AS (SELECT 3 + 5 S FROM DUAL),
3 Q2 AS (SELECT 3 * 5 M FROM DUAL),
4 Q3 AS (SELECT S, M, S + M, S * M FROM Q1, Q2)
5 SELECT * FROM Q3;
S M S+M S*M
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
8 15 23 120

利用WITH定义查询中出现多次的子查询还能带来性能提示。Oracle会对WITH进行性能优化，当需要多次访问WITH定义的子查询时，Oracle会将子查询的结果放到一个临时表中，避免同样的子查询多次执行，从而有效的减少了查询的IO数量。

可惜的是，WITH语句只能用在SELECT语句中，UPDATE和DELETE语句不支持WITH语法:?

SQL> SET AUTOT OFF
SQL> SET TIMING OFF
SQL> WITH SUBQ AS (SELECT 1 FROM DUAL)
2 SELECT ID, NAME FROM T_WITH WHERE ID IN (SELECT * FROM SUBQ);

ID NAME
---------- ------------------------------
1 STANDARD

SQL> WITH SUBQ AS (SELECT 1 FROM DUAL)
2 UPDATE T_WITH SET ID = 1 WHERE ID IN (SELECT * FROM SUBQ);
UPDATE T_WITH SET ID = 1 WHERE ID IN (SELECT * FROM SUBQ)
*第 2 行出现错误:
ORA-00928: 缺失 SELECT 关键字


SQL> WITH SUBQ AS (SELECT 1 FROM DUAL)
2 DELETE T_WITH WHERE ID IN (SELECT * FROM SUBQ);
DELETE T_WITH WHERE ID IN (SELECT * FROM SUBQ)

*第 2 行出现错误:
ORA-00928: 缺失 SELECT 关键字