RE: Help with SQL

I think you're right. That STATUS column throws a wrinkle in it.
create table vkparent (
k1 char(1),
k2 char(1),
k3 char(1),
k4 char(1),
primary key(k1, k2, k3, k4)
)
;
create table vkchild (
k1 char(1),
k2 char(1),
k3 char(1),
k4 char(1),
status char(1),
k5 char(1),
d1 char(1),
primary key(k1, k2, k3, k4, k5)
);

insert into vkparent values('A', 'A', 'A', 'A');
insert into vkparent values('B', 'B', 'B', 'B');
insert into vkparent values('C', 'C', 'C', 'C');
insert into vkparent values('D', 'D', 'D', 'D');
insert into vkchild values('A', 'A', 'A', 'A', 'A', '1', 'X');
insert into vkchild values('B', 'B', 'B', 'B', 'I', '1', 'X');
insert into vkchild values('D', 'D', 'D', 'D', 'I', '1', 'X');
insert into vkchild values('D', 'D', 'D', 'D', 'A', '2', 'Y');

select p.k1, p.k2, p.k3, p.k4
from vkparent p
where (p.k1, p.k2, p.k3, p.k4) not in (
select c.k1, c.k2, c.k3, c.k4 from vkchild c
where c.status = 'A')
;
This line won't get what you want because 'D' has both an active and an inactive row.
select p.k1, p.k2, p.k3, p.k4, c.status
from vkparent p left outer join vkchild c on
p.k1=c.k1 and p.k2=c.k2 and p.k3=c.k3 and p.k4=c.k4
where c.status is null or c.status<>'A'
;
l

Rob Berendt