> There are a number of ways you can (indirectly) see how far it has got.
> If it's in the first phase (the seq scan), by looking at which file it
> has open you should be able to see how far along the table it is. Once
> it's in the sort stage you should be able to see from the tape files
> approimately how far it is. As for the number of sort stages required,
> that depends on the size of the data to be sorted, but you should be
> able to estimate that...
>
> At least, you should be able to tell the difference between a 6 hour and
> 6 day query.
Thanks for the hints, I'll try to look up on the details...
Cheers,
Csaba.