The way that our two points are the same is, that they are directly opposite.
You're saying "don't ever retrieve large numbers of records" and I'm saying that
I have an issue because I HAVE to retrieve large numbers of records.

If I say, in order to do my job, I have to collect this information, to have you
say "well don't do your job" isn't going to sit well with my boss.

In this case, returning 100-200,000 records IS useful for the user.
It's for a governmental audit. We have to be able to produce a report based on
specific criteria, then print on PAPER the entire report. The auditors then
randomly select records from different areas (usually between 100 and 200 over a
4 week period) and check the record to see that the inventory matches the
report. This is an extreme example, not the daily use.

Using "select distinct" doesn't help.. these are distinct records...