Techniques are provided for processing, within a database server, a database statement, where at least one subtask required by the database statement is to be executed in parallel by a slave set. The database server determines whether the database statement includes an external expression, relative to the subtask, that (a) produces information that is required by slave processes in the slave set in order to perform the subtask, and (b) is not to be evaluated by each slave process in the slave set. During execution of the statement, if the database statement includes an external expression, then one or more external values are generated by causing the external expression to be evaluated, and the one or more external values are communicated to slaves of the slave set to allow the slave processes to perform respective portions of the subtask in parallel, without requiring each slave of the slave set to evaluate the external expression.