You may already be working with the usual suspects for performance tuning tools, but are you using all the features available in each tool? The following is one of several must-have free tools, or go to the complete list of freebies.
  5. Query Analyzer's Query Plans | Return to Complete List |
Most DBAs and developers use Query Analyzer to issue queries, but the one hidden gem is graphical query plans. To access the graphical query plan options, open Query Analyzer, navigate to the Query menu and select either show Execution Plan, Show Server Trace or Show Client Statistics. Based on the T-SQL in the query window and the graphical query plan option selected, the results will look similar to the image below.
If you hover your mouse over any of the objects, it is possible to gather additional statistics about an individual step. One wish is to be able to extract the data when hovering over an object, but hopefully that will arrive in the coming months with SQL Server 2005.
Two other options to capture query plans in text format are via the following commands:
Click for the next featured freebie: Stored procedures and functions
About the author: Jeremy Kadlec is the Principal Database Engineer at Edgewood Solutions, a technology services company delivering professional services and product solutions for Microsoft SQL Server. He has authored numerous articles and delivers frequent presentations at regional SQL Server Users Groups and nationally at SQL PASS. Jeremy is also the SearchSQLServer.com Performance Tuning expert. Ask him a question here.
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This was first published in July 2005