FACT Hint

In the event that the size of the tables do not make it obvious which one is the fact table, the 
FACT hint allows one to specify this directly. Star query optimization or star query 
transformation will take place on this basis. 
 
SELECT /*+ FACT (transactions) */ 
 b.office_name, t.time_id, SUM(f.number_shares) 
FROM transactions f, stocks s, brokerages b, time t 
WHERE f.stock_id = s.stock_id 
AND f.brokerage_id = b.brokerage_id 
AND f.time_id = t.time_id 
AND b.region = 'Central' 
AND t.season = 'Spring' 
AND s.industry = 'Banking' 
GROUP BY b.office_name, t.time_id;