Obtaining Query Count Without executing a Query in Oracle D2k

Obtaining a count of records that will be retrieved by EXECUTE_QUERY before actually performing it in a database block is especially useful when the requirement is to prevent navigation to a block when query hits are zero. A typical scenario of such a situation is when the detail block records exist on a separate canvas not visible on Form startup and the user is required to click a Details button to see them. Giving an alert message such as No Details exist when the user clicks the Details button is more meaningful than displaying a blank details screen, when no details exist for the chosen parent record.