Query Optimizer Does Not Use The Index I Expect
Jun 27, 2007I am trying to resolve performance issues in a third party application. I have run the profiler and found a transaction that performs a table scan against a 6 million row table. This transaction occurs repeatedly, so I thought, just add an index on the columns in the where clause used here. After adding the index, I looked at the estimated execution plan in Query analyzer, and I find that it is still performing the table scan. If I run the query it takes over 60 seconds to run, if i add an index hint, it runs in under a second. I ran DBCC SHOW_STATISTICS to see if the statistics were up to date:
Statistics for INDEX 'IX_Finish_dept'.
Updated Rows Rows Sampled Steps Density Average key length
-------------------- -------------------- -------------------- ------ ------------------------ ------------------------
Jun 26 2007 5:18PM 6832336 6832336 150 2.1415579E-7 18.0
(1 row(s) affected)
All density Average Length Columns
------------------------ ------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1875491E-7 8.0 finish
1.9796084E-7 18.0 finish, dept
(2 row(s) affected)
RANGE_HI_KEY RANGE_ROWS EQ_ROWS DISTINCT_RANGE_ROWS AVG_RANGE_ROWS
------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ -------------------- ------------------------
1900-01-01 00:00:00.000 0.0 106110.0 0 0.0
2001-02-01 17:00:00.000 54121.0 47.0 22951 2.3581107
2001-02-28 17:00:00.000 44436.0 22.0 18121 2.4520473
2001-04-06 00:00:00.000 56830.0 76.0 24902 2.2820544
2001-08-10 17:00:00.000 196491.0 19.0 88800 2.2127116
2001-09-02 17:00:00.000 33070.0 50.0 15289 2.162993
2001-10-05 17:04:59.997 57975.0 30.0 22882 2.5335402
2001-11-05 15:31:59.997 50178.0 21.0 20899 2.4008613
2001-12-10 17:00:00.000 55266.0 38.0 25114 2.2006052
2002-01-03 17:00:00.000 40322.0 51.0 18649 2.1620376
2002-02-25 17:00:00.000 86338.0 24.0 39266 2.1987979
2002-08-15 06:11:00.000 296085.0 166.0 124526 2.3776772
2002-10-07 21:18:59.997 88727.0 826.0 39017 2.2740018
2002-12-17 16:59:00.000 127671.0 6.0 53314 2.3946545
2003-01-16 07:15:00.000 62206.0 71.0 24604 2.5281854
2003-01-21 07:15:00.000 8287.0 43.0 3661 2.2629712
2003-01-27 07:15:00.000 10402.0 68.0 4265 2.4389215
2003-01-31 07:15:00.000 9127.0 73.0 3784 2.4113607
2003-02-05 00:00:00.000 8362.0 327.0 3500 2.3891428
2003-02-10 00:00:00.000 8846.0 262.0 3230 2.7386997
2003-02-14 00:00:00.000 10018.0 51.0 4107 2.4386563
2003-02-20 00:00:00.000 10388.0 91.0 4686 2.2168159
2003-02-26 00:00:00.000 10571.0 69.0 4330 2.4407759
2003-03-03 00:00:00.000 10476.0 261.0 4423 2.3679929
2003-03-06 00:00:00.000 8858.0 594.0 3183 2.7829092
2003-04-02 00:00:00.000 57681.0 275.0 38622 1.4934366
2003-04-05 00:00:00.000 10539.0 29.0 8776 1.2008888
2003-04-09 00:00:00.000 9880.0 1324.0 7193 1.3735576
2003-04-12 00:00:00.000 8953.0 195.0 7737 1.1571668
2003-04-16 00:00:00.000 8385.0 177.0 7154 1.1719078
2003-04-21 00:00:00.000 8920.0 173.0 7756 1.1500773
2003-04-24 00:00:00.000 8563.0 156.0 7320 1.169649
2003-04-29 00:00:00.000 8462.0 137.0 7414 1.1412003
2003-05-02 00:00:00.000 9625.0 140.0 8363 1.1509027
2003-05-06 00:00:00.000 8208.0 904.0 6557 1.251792
2003-05-09 00:00:00.000 9211.0 119.0 7986 1.1533934
2003-05-19 00:00:00.000 19623.0 123.0 17290 1.1348679
2003-05-22 00:00:00.000 9568.0 246.0 8357 1.1449084
2003-05-28 00:00:00.000 9599.0 169.0 8553 1.1221651
2003-06-02 00:00:00.000 10937.0 174.0 9599 1.1393895
2003-07-11 00:00:00.000 99592.0 999.0 83573 1.1916767
2003-07-29 00:00:00.000 42434.0 111.0 33918 1.2510761
2003-08-21 00:00:00.000 59580.0 323.0 50756 1.1738282
2003-09-12 00:00:00.000 51779.0 1407.0 44298 1.1688789
2003-09-25 00:00:00.000 30655.0 255.0 26924 1.138533
2003-10-12 00:00:00.000 44573.0 968.0 37746 1.1808668
2003-10-28 00:00:00.000 38358.0 532.0 32689 1.1734222
2003-11-11 00:00:00.000 35158.0 145.0 28124 1.2500622
2003-12-04 00:00:00.000 61304.0 787.0 52882 1.1592383
2003-12-18 00:00:00.000 44462.0 221.0 39493 1.1257913
2004-01-06 00:00:00.000 56617.0 998.0 49471 1.1444252
2004-02-04 00:00:00.000 96694.0 537.0 83182 1.162425
2004-03-05 00:00:00.000 90850.0 716.0 78693 1.1544864
2004-03-23 00:00:00.000 48969.0 125.0 43450 1.1270195
2004-07-05 00:00:00.000 301725.0 1405.0 258824 1.1657491
2004-08-06 00:00:00.000 95079.0 1419.0 75445 1.2602259
2004-09-03 00:00:00.000 88056.0 193.0 68403 1.2873119
2004-09-23 01:30:12.997 57515.0 8.0 42891 1.3409261
2004-10-11 00:00:00.000 57204.0 116.0 40241 1.4215
2004-10-15 00:00:00.000 17702.0 186.0 12774 1.3856752
2004-10-19 00:00:00.000 9556.0 125.0 7305 1.3079661
2004-10-21 00:00:00.000 8898.0 133.0 6299 1.4126052
2004-10-25 00:00:00.000 8878.0 104.0 6372 1.3930645
2004-10-27 00:00:00.000 11904.0 252.0 6056 1.9656539
2004-10-29 00:00:00.000 8866.0 99.0 6551 1.3533812
2004-11-02 15:22:47.997 12287.0 1.0 9791 1.2547998
2004-11-05 13:16:50.997 12287.0 1.0 10013 1.2269822
2004-11-09 23:52:48.000 12284.0 4.0 9200 1.3352174
2004-11-12 17:17:59.997 12287.0 1.0 9360 1.3127136
2004-11-22 06:58:06.997 24575.0 1.0 19742 1.244745
2004-11-25 01:57:00.000 12287.0 1.0 8822 1.392768
2004-11-30 21:34:59.997 12287.0 1.0 9128 1.3459306
2004-12-03 13:21:24.000 12287.0 1.0 9085 1.3523003
2004-12-07 04:05:21.000 12285.0 5.0 9488 1.2947934
2004-12-09 13:25:00.000 12285.0 5.0 8993 1.3659106
2004-12-13 07:21:46.000 12282.0 10.0 9461 1.2981714
2004-12-15 18:41:23.000 12287.0 2.0 9112 1.3482937
2005-02-04 14:41:36.997 178768.0 58.0 133439 1.3396883
2005-02-23 00:00:00.000 51107.0 29.0 38624 1.3231586
2005-03-10 23:06:17.997 50891.0 24.0 38479 1.3225312
2005-03-28 00:00:00.000 45509.0 32.0 34203 1.3305169
2005-04-13 09:50:34.000 58778.0 19.0 43687 1.3454038
2005-06-08 09:46:43.997 162983.0 25.0 121508 1.3413246
2005-08-08 09:37:29.000 197467.0 20.0 143462 1.3764411
2005-08-24 11:21:37.997 57393.0 5.0 42770 1.3418672
2005-09-11 13:54:05.997 53729.0 5.0 39527 1.3592987
2005-11-08 00:00:00.000 193537.0 69.0 136906 1.4136385
2005-11-22 00:00:00.000 55031.0 33.0 38197 1.4407152
2005-12-05 00:00:00.000 40371.0 77.0 28082 1.4376112
2005-12-22 12:40:59.997 75170.0 3.0 52523 1.4311825
2006-03-02 00:00:00.000 239709.0 42.0 170405 1.4066935
2006-03-04 06:26:36.997 9639.0 23.0 6470 1.489799
2006-03-12 10:02:43.000 21993.0 1.0 16086 1.3672137
2006-03-15 00:00:00.000 8774.0 40.0 6687 1.3119019
2006-04-03 00:00:00.000 69570.0 31.0 46495 1.4962578
2006-04-04 00:00:00.000 8743.0 28.0 4606 1.8977643
2006-04-04 13:53:00.997 12284.0 6.0 3401 3.6108172
2006-04-05 00:00:00.000 10794.0 29.0 3438 3.139616
2006-04-06 00:00:00.000 9413.0 45.0 5001 1.8818473
2006-04-10 00:00:00.000 11058.0 30.0 7865 1.4059758
2006-04-14 00:00:00.000 23183.0 38.0 16281 1.4238423
2006-04-18 00:00:00.000 9898.0 37.0 7258 1.3635488
2006-04-21 03:19:31.000 16561.0 26.0 11848 1.3976707
2006-04-25 14:48:00.000 12287.0 3.0 8553 1.436572
2006-04-27 13:37:49.000 9793.0 96.0 7203 1.3593837
2006-05-02 00:00:00.000 11426.0 30.0 8135 1.4043757
2006-05-04 05:28:36.000 12277.0 22.0 8806 1.3940048
2006-06-08 00:00:00.000 123695.0 33.0 89478 1.3824068
2006-06-16 00:00:00.000 35327.0 37.0 24539 1.4396267
2006-06-29 00:00:00.000 48433.0 40.0 35226 1.3748829
2006-07-14 00:00:00.000 62915.0 57.0 44859 1.4024744
2006-08-10 00:00:00.000 106281.0 36.0 75810 1.401939
2006-08-17 00:00:00.000 25345.0 81.0 18123 1.398422
2006-08-28 00:00:00.000 40947.0 38.0 27573 1.4850397
2006-09-11 09:00:00.000 52187.0 15913.0 36698 1.4220666
2006-09-25 00:00:00.000 52902.0 30.0 37210 1.4216764
2006-10-06 00:00:00.000 54534.0 31.0 38244 1.4259119
2006-10-11 13:29:40.997 16380.0 5.0 12503 1.3100855
2006-11-29 00:00:00.000 197522.0 27.0 138746 1.423623
2006-12-01 00:00:00.000 10584.0 24.0 7602 1.3920821
2007-01-02 00:00:00.000 141284.0 34.0 101246 1.3954526
2007-01-12 02:57:03.997 60416.0 23.0 41700 1.4488249
2007-02-13 00:00:00.000 156270.0 75.0 109875 1.4222525
2007-02-16 00:00:00.000 17770.0 38.0 12325 1.441668
2007-03-05 12:23:00.000 73763.0 3.0 51503 1.43218
2007-03-08 04:11:49.997 16407.0 22.0 11428 1.4355587
2007-03-26 09:10:43.000 76336.0 20.0 53687 1.4218712
2007-04-05 12:31:28.000 64126.0 24.0 40172 1.5962859
2007-04-07 01:11:22.000 9244.0 28.0 6657 1.388405
2007-04-10 00:00:00.000 8924.0 38.0 6140 1.4531835
2007-04-24 21:01:00.000 73487.0 6.0 51689 1.421687
2007-04-26 09:01:48.997 9584.0 25.0 6650 1.441203
2007-04-28 04:09:21.000 9801.0 27.0 7037 1.3925831
2007-05-01 12:55:00.000 8781.0 26.0 6012 1.460336
2007-05-03 00:00:00.000 10570.0 53.0 7298 1.4481436
2007-05-04 21:49:27.000 12287.0 1.0 8680 1.415553
2007-05-08 06:06:45.997 8202.0 27.0 5511 1.4880261
2007-05-10 00:00:00.000 10920.0 49.0 7973 1.3696225
2007-05-12 00:44:10.000 11375.0 27.0 8223 1.3833151
2007-05-15 10:51:50.000 9453.0 27.0 6516 1.4507366
2007-05-18 08:44:36.997 17930.0 27.0 12651 1.4172792
2007-05-22 00:00:00.000 10089.0 74.0 7260 1.3894781
2007-05-23 21:07:38.000 12286.0 3.0 8604 1.4279405
2007-05-26 03:46:02.000 12287.0 6.0 8545 1.4377487
2007-05-30 21:24:29.997 12287.0 1.0 8663 1.4183308
2007-06-01 18:37:16.000 12287.0 1.0 8401 1.4623899
2007-06-05 00:00:00.000 9255.0 52.0 6491 1.4256008
2007-06-08 22:18:40.000 24574.0 3.0 17047 1.4415439
2007-06-12 09:42:14.997 9550.0 31.0 6410 1.4896272
9200-12-08 09:49:59.997 64286.0 1.0 45408 1.4157417
(150 row(s) affected)
What can I do to get SQL to use this index?