postgresql7.1 select journal_id, action_pretty, msg, case when coalesce(p.person_id, 0) = 0 then 'System' else substr(p.first_names, 1, 1) || '. ' || p.last_name end as person, to_char(o.creation_date, 'MM/DD/YY HH24:MI:SS') as when from journal_entries j, acs_objects o left outer join persons p on o.creation_user = p.person_id where ( j.object_id = :item_id or j.object_id in (select case_id from wf_cases c where c.object_id = :item_id) ) and j.journal_id = o.object_id and msg is not null order by o.creation_date desc limit 10