Personally I think if you spent the dollars on a product and it doesn't do what it is supposed to do then you ought to let whomever you bought it from know.

You should also make whatever *temporary workarounds* you need to get through the day, and perhaps you can send the vendor the temporary workaround (or a description of it) so they completely understand that you understand the problem.

First rule is always get through the day though - so if perl can bandage a problem until Oracle fixes it properly then perl (once again) is the right tool in the right place at the right time.

EEjack