Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
View Execution Plans
You can also view either an estimated execution plan or the actual plan from the same query window. The Actual
Plan and Estimated Plan icons are next to the Run icon you clicked previously. With the same two T-SQL statements
entered previously, click the Actual Plan icon. When the execution is finished, you will notice a Query Plan link next to
Results. Click on this link; you will see the execution plan shown in Figure
A-6
.
Figure A-6.
Viewing the actual execution plan
The Sort By icons on the left allow you to pinpoint which operators consume the most resources. By default, the
execution plan shows a graphical display highlighting the operators that consume the most CPU and I/O resources.
You can click on the CPU or IO icon on the left to show the operators that consume the most CPU or I/O resources,
respectively.
The Find By icons on the left allow you to highlight execution warnings, index scans, or index seeks. Note that
table scans cannot exist, because SQL Database does not support heap tables. You can also zoom in or out easily using
the vertical bar on the bottom left. Doing so changes the display of the icons when you zoom in enough, as shown
in Figure
A-7
.
