Comparing Execution Plans Visually - Visual Explain

Teradata Visual Explain User Guide

Product
Visual Explain
Release Number
16.20
16.10
Published
May 2017
Language
English (United States)
Last Update
2018-05-04
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pvi1488824663157.ditamap
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B035-2504
Product Category
Teradata Tools and Utilities

Use Teradata Visual Explain to visually compare one or more execution plans to a designated base plan. Red arrows indicate differences in the depicted plan.

  1. Click . The Select Execution Plans for Visual Compare dialog box appears. The following selections are available:
    • Plans from a database
    • Open plans
    • Offline plans
    • All plans
    Select Execution Plans for Visual Compare

  2. [Optional] To select plans from a database use one of the following options:
    1. In the tree view, right-click the Query Capture Databases node and select Browse QCD to display the available QCD names in the tree view.
    2. To select a plan associated with a workload, use one of the following options:
    Option Do the following:
    Select a plan in the Workload box
    1. Right-click the Query Capture Databases node and select Browse QCD to display the available QCD names in the tree view.
    2. Select a specific QCD from the tree view. Right-click the QCD and select Browse Plans to display the Browse QCD Plans dialog box.
    3. Enter a workload name.
    4. Click for a list of available workloads.
    5. To view XML plans available in the selected QCD, select the QCD XML Plans check box.
    Use one of these options to select a specific plan
    • In the tree view, right-click the Query Capture Databases node and select Browse QCD to display the Available QCD names in the tree view.
    • Select a specific QCD from the tree view. Right-click the QCD and select the Browse Plans menu item to display the Browse QCD Plans dialog box.
    • Enter a query-tag name in the Query Tag box.
      In this field, the % and _ symbols can be used as wildcard characters and can be used in any combination. The % symbol represents any string of zero or more arbitrary characters. For example, query% would match query, query1, query12, and so on. The _ symbol represents one arbitrary character; therefore, any single character is acceptable in the position in which _ appears.
    • Type a query ID number in the Query ID box.
      To select a range of plans, type a range in the Query ID box. For example, type 1-100 or 1,3,6-10.
    Select plans from a different server
    1. Close the Browse QCD Plans dialog box.
    2. Click the Disconnect button in the Status Bar of the Open Plan Tree window.
    3. Click the Connect button in the Status Bar of the Open Plan Tree window.
    4. Type logon information.
    5. Right-click the Query Capture Databases node and select Browse QCD to display the available QCD names.
    6. Select a specific QCD from the tree view. Right-click the QCD to display the shortcut menu and select the Browse Plans menu item to display the Browse QCD Plans dialog box.
  3. [Optional] To select plans that are open:
    1. Click Browse Open Plan(s). The plans are listed under Select Execution Plans.
    2. Click Open to display the plans.
  4. [Optional] To select offline plans:
    1. In the tree view, click the Offline Plan node and select Browse Offline Plans.
    2. From the Open dialog box, select one or more plans.
      • The description of the selected plan appears under Description.
      • If the file contains more than one plan, the Description box identifies the number of plans the file contains.
    3. Click Open to display the plans in the Offline Plan node.
    4. Click Add to add the selected plans to the Selected Execution Plans list.
  5. [Optional] To load one or more DBQL plans:
    1. In the tree view, right-click the DBQL XML Plan node to open the shortcut menu.
    2. Select the DBQ XML Plans menu item to display the Select DBQL Criteria dialog box.
    3. Under Selection, use one of the following options:
      • Select DBQL (default) to browse XML queries from the DBQL.
      • Select External Database to browse XML queries from an external database.
    4. [Optional] Set DBQL filter options:
      1. DBQL filter options are present in the Select DBQL Criteria dialog box.
      2. Click OK. The filtered plans are populated below the DBQL XML Plan node in the tree view.
    5. In the Available Execution Plans, right-click the QueryID to open the shortcut menu and select the Add menu item checkbox in the Available Execution Plans list.
    6. To select a base plan for the comparison, double-click a row under Selected Execution Plan.
  6. [Optional] Use the following steps to see the complete statement text:
    1. Select a QueryID from QCD, DBQL, or a file name from the Offline Plans in the tree view.
    2. Right-click Statement Text menu item to open the Statement Text dialog box.
    3. Select a statement in the grid.
    4. Click .
  7. To select a base plan for the comparison, double-click a row under Selected Execution Plan. The plan is moved to the top of the list and highlighted in green.
  8. Select the check box in the Compare column next to the each plan to be compared.
  9. Click Compare.
  10. The differences are highlighted by red arrows next to the appropriate steps. Position the mouse pointer so that the cursor is over the red arrows.

    To see tool tips explaining the differences, see Tool Tips and Pop-Up Menus.

    Execution Plans - Visual Compare