Copy Execution Plans
To copy an execution plan
| » | Right-click the execution plan and select Copy. |
Note: You can paste execution plans displayed as a Tree Plan or Plain Language Plan in text or bitmap format. Applications such as Microsoft Word allow you to choose the format using the Paste Special option. You can use text applications such as Notepad to paste execution plans in text format or graphic applications such as MS Paint to paste execution plans in bitmap format.
Animate Execution Plans
You can animate each step in the execution plan in the order SQL Optimizer executes them.
To animate the execution plan or cancel the animation
| » | Right-click the execution plan and select Animate Plan Steps. |
Compare Plan Cost
SQL Optimizer calculates the estimated cost for each SQL statement. Statements with high estimated cost use more system and database resources. SQL Optimizer calculates the cost for each step in the execution plan and totals the cost to provide a resource usage estimate for the entire statement. You can use this estimate to identify the most costly step in the execution plan.
Estimated cost can only be used to compare SQL statements that retrieve the exact same result. Comparisons of estimated cost for statements that do not retrieve the same results are not valid.
Important: The cost only provides an estimate of resource usage to execute a SQL statement. Since statements with higher cost may perform better, you should test generated alternatives to determine the best statements for your database environment.
View Missing Indexes
You can use the Missing Indexes feature to help you determine which indexes improve the performance of a query. Missing index information displays in the Execution Plan.
Note: Missing index information is provided by Microsoft SQL Server®.
To view missing indexes
| » | Select  . |
Notes:
- The number of missing indexes recommended by SQL Server displays in the bottom of the Execution Plan panel.
- Hover over the Missing index(es) field to display plan information.
To create a user-defined index alternative
- Right-click the plan and select View missing index details.
- Click the Create indexes as User Defined Alternative icon.
To explore different index alternatives
| » | Right-click the plan and select Generate Indexes. |
Note: You can also click the Index icon on the main toolbar.