15

I am working on optimizing some queries.

For the query below, 

SET STATISTICS IO ON;
DECLARE @OrderStartDate DATETIME2 = '27 feb 2016';
DECLARE @OrderEndDate  DATETIME2 = '28 feb 2016';

SELECT  o.strBxOrderNo
        , o.sintOrderStatusID
        , o.sintOrderChannelID
        , o.sintOrderTypeID
        , o.sdtmOrdCreated
        , o.sintMarketID
        , o.strOrderKey
        , o.strOfferCode
        , o.strCurrencyCode
        , o.decBCShipFullPrice
        , o.decBCShipFinal
        , o.decBCShipTax
        , o.decBCTotalAmount
        , o.decWrittenTotalAmount
        , o.decBCWrittenTotalAmount
        , o.decBCShipOfferDisc
        , o.decBCShipOverride
        , o.decTotalAmount
        , o.decShipTax
        , o.decShipFinal
        , o.decShipOverride
        , o.decShipOfferDisc
        , o.decShipFullPrice
        , o.lngAccountParticipantID
        , CONVERT(DATE, o.sdtmOrdCreated, 120) as OrderCreatedDateConverted
FROM    tablebackups.dbo.tblBOrder o
WHERE   o.sdtmOrdCreated >= @OrderStartDate
        AND o.sdtmOrdCreated < @OrderEndDate
        AND EXISTS  (
            SELECT  *
            FROM    tablebackups.dbo.tblBOrderItem oi 
            WHERE   oi.strBxOrderNo = o.strBxOrderNo
            AND     oi.decCatItemPrice > 0
        )
OPTION (RECOMPILE);

I have created the following FILTERED index:

-- table dbo.tblBorderItem
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX IX_tblBOrderItem_decCatItemPrice_INCL 
ON dbo.tblBorderItem 
( 
     strBxOrderNo ASC
    , sintOrderSeqNo ASC
    , decCatItemPrice   
)   
INCLUDE 
(
    blnChargeShipping
    , decBCCatItemPrice
    , decBCCostPrice
    , decBCFinalPrice
    , decBCOfferDiscount
    , decBCOverrideDiscount
    , decBCTaxAmount
    , decCostPrice
    , decFinalPrice
    , decOfferDiscount
    , decOverrideDiscount
    , decTaxAmount
    , decWasPrice
    , dtmOrdItemCreated
    , sintOrderItemStatusId
    , sintOrderItemType
    , sintQuantity
    , strItemNo
)  
WHERE decCatItemPrice > 0 
WITH (DROP_EXISTING = ON, FILLFACTOR = 95);

This index is not used only for this query in particular, there are other queries that use this same index, therefore the INCLUDED columns.

For this query in particular, I just want to check (EXISTS) if an order has any item where decCatItemPrice > 0.

SQL Server is doing an index scan as you can see in the pictures below.

  • Statistics have just been updated.
  • The item table has 41,208 rows in test.

Please note, I don't select any columns from the items table.

This item table has 164,309,397 in live. I would like to avoid a scan there.

questions:

Why is SQL Server not doing an index seek?

Are there other factors/things I should consider in order to improve this query?

(4537 row(s) affected) Table 'tblBorder'. Scan count 1, logical reads
116, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob
physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0. Table 'tblBorderItem'. Scan
count 1, logical reads 689, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob
logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.

(1 row(s) affected)

enter image description here enter image description here

this is the definition and indexes on table tblBorderItem

    IF OBJECT_ID('[dbo].[tblBorderItem]') IS NOT NULL 
    DROP TABLE [dbo].[tblBorderItem] 
    GO
    CREATE TABLE [dbo].[tblBorderItem] ( 
    [strBxOrderNo]                VARCHAR(20)                      NOT NULL,
    [sintOrderSeqNo]              SMALLINT                         NOT NULL,
    [sintOrderItemStatusId]       SMALLINT                         NOT NULL,
    [sintNameStructureID]         SMALLINT                         NOT NULL,
    [strItemNo]                   VARCHAR(20)                      NOT NULL,
    [sintQuantity]                SMALLINT                         NOT NULL,
    [strCurrencyCode]             VARCHAR(3)                       NOT NULL,
    [decCostPrice]                DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
    [decCatItemPrice]             DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
    [decOfferDiscount]            DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
    [decOverrideDiscount]         DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
    [decFinalPrice]               DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
    [decTaxAmount]                DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
    [strBCCurrencyCode]           VARCHAR(3)                       NOT NULL,
    [decBCCostPrice]              DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
    [decBCCatItemPrice]           DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
    [decBCOfferDiscount]          DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
    [decBCOverrideDiscount]       DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
    [decBCFinalPrice]             DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
    [decBCTaxAmount]              DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
    [dtmOrdItemCreated]           DATETIME                         NOT NULL,
    [blnChargeShipping]           BIT                              NOT NULL,
    [lngTimeOfOrderQtyOnHand]     INT                                  NULL,
    [sdtmTimeOfOrderDueDate]      SMALLDATETIME                        NULL,
    [lngProdSetSeqNo]             INT                                  NULL,
    [lngProdRelationId]           INT                                  NULL,
    [lngProdRelationMemberId]     INT                                  NULL,
    [decWasPrice]                 DECIMAL(18,2)                        NULL,
    [sintOrderItemType]           SMALLINT                             NULL,
    [tsRowVersion]                TIMESTAMP                            NULL,
    [sdtmOrderItemStatusUpdated]  SMALLDATETIME                        NULL,
    CONSTRAINT   [PK_tblBOrderItem]  
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED    
([strBxOrderNo] asc, [sintOrderSeqNo] asc) 
WITH FILLFACTOR = 100)

    GO

    CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX 
    [IX_tblBOrderItem__dtmOrdItemCreated] 
       ON [dbo].[tblBorderItem] ([dtmOrdItemCreated] asc)
       WITH FILLFACTOR = 100


    CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IX_tblBOrderItem__sintOrderItemStatusId] 
       ON [dbo].[tblBorderItem] ([sintOrderItemStatusId] asc)
       INCLUDE ([sdtmOrderItemStatusUpdated], 
    [sintOrderSeqNo], [strBxOrderNo], [strItemNo])
       WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IX_tblBOrderItem__
sintOrderItemStatusId_decFinalPrice_
sdtmOrderItemStatusUpdated_
include_strBxOrderNo] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorderItem] 
([sintOrderItemStatusId] asc, 
 [decFinalPrice] asc, 
 [sdtmOrderItemStatusUpdated] asc)
   INCLUDE ([strBxOrderNo])
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IX_tblBOrderItem__strBxOrderNo] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorderItem] 
([strBxOrderNo] asc)
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100


CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IX_tblBOrderItem__strItemNo] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorderItem] ([strItemNo] asc)
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX 
[IX_tblBOrderItem_decCatItemPrice_INCL] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorderItem] 
([strBxOrderNo] asc, [sintOrderSeqNo] asc, [decCatItemPrice] asc)
   INCLUDE ([blnChargeShipping], 
[decBCCatItemPrice], [decBCCostPrice], [decBCFinalPrice], 
[decBCOfferDiscount], [decBCOverrideDiscount], 
[decBCTaxAmount], [decCostPrice], [decFinalPrice], 
[decOfferDiscount], [decOverrideDiscount], 
[decTaxAmount], [decWasPrice], [dtmOrdItemCreated], 
[sintOrderItemStatusId], [sintOrderItemType], 
[sintQuantity], [strItemNo])
   WHERE ([decCatItemPrice]>(0))
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 95

this is the definition and indexes on table tblBorder

IF OBJECT_ID('[dbo].[tblBorder]') IS NOT NULL 
DROP TABLE [dbo].[tblBorder] 
GO
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[tblBorder] ( 
[strBxOrderNo]                VARCHAR(20)                      NOT NULL,
[uidOrderUniqueID]            UNIQUEIDENTIFIER                 NOT NULL,
[sintOrderStatusID]           SMALLINT                         NOT NULL,
[sintOrderChannelID]          SMALLINT                         NOT NULL,
[sintOrderTypeID]             SMALLINT                         NOT NULL,
[blnIsBasket]                 BIT                              NOT NULL,
[sdtmOrdCreated]              SMALLDATETIME                    NOT NULL,
[sintMarketID]                SMALLINT                         NOT NULL,
[strOrderKey]                 VARCHAR(20)                      NOT NULL,
[strOfferCode]                VARCHAR(20)                      NOT NULL,
[lngShippedToParticipantID]   INT                              NOT NULL,
[lngOrderedByParticipantID]   INT                              NOT NULL,
[lngShipToAddressID]          INT                              NOT NULL,
[lngAccountAddressID]         INT                              NOT NULL,
[lngAccountParticipantID]     INT                              NOT NULL,
[lngOrderedByAddressID]       INT                              NOT NULL,
[lngOrderTakenBy]             INT                              NOT NULL,
[strCurrencyCode]             VARCHAR(3)                       NOT NULL,
[decShipFullPrice]            DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
[decShipOfferDisc]            DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
[decShipOverride]             DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
[decShipFinal]                DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
[decShipTax]                  DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
[strBCCurrencyCode]           VARCHAR(3)                       NOT NULL,
[decBCShipFullPrice]          DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
[decBCShipOfferDisc]          DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
[decBCShipOverride]           DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
[decBCShipFinal]              DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
[decBCShipTax]                DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
[decTotalAmount]              DECIMAL(18,2)                    NOT NULL,
[decBCTotalAmount]            DECIMAL(18,4)                    NOT NULL,
[decWrittenTotalAmount]       DECIMAL(18,2)                        NULL,
[decBCWrittenTotalAmount]     DECIMAL(18,4)                        NULL,
[blnProRataShipping]          BIT                              NOT NULL,
[blnChargeWithFirstShipment]  BIT                              NOT NULL,
[sintShippingServiceLevelID]  SMALLINT                         NOT NULL,
[sintShippingMethodID]        SMALLINT                         NOT NULL,
[sdtmDoNotShipUntil]          SMALLDATETIME                        NULL,
[blnHoldUntilComplete]        BIT                              NOT NULL,
[tsRowVersion]                TIMESTAMP                            NULL,
CONSTRAINT   [PK_tblBOrder]  
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED    
([strBxOrderNo] asc) WITH FILLFACTOR = 100)

GO

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX 
[IX_tblBOrder__lngAccountAddressID] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] 
   ([lngAccountAddressID] asc, [sintOrderStatusID] asc)
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX 
[IX_tblBOrder__lngAccountParticipantID] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] 
   ([lngAccountParticipantID] asc)
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX 
[IX_tblBOrder__lngOrderedByAddressID] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] 
   ([lngOrderedByAddressID] asc, [sintOrderStatusID] asc)
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX 
[IX_tblBOrder__lngOrderedByParticipantID] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] ([lngOrderedByParticipantID] asc)
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX 
[IX_tblBOrder__lngShippedToParticipantID] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] 
   ([lngShippedToParticipantID] asc)
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX 
[IX_tblBOrder__lngShipToAddressID] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] 
   ([lngShipToAddressID] asc, [sintOrderStatusID] asc)
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX 
[IX_tblBOrder__sdtmOrdCreated_sintMarketID__include_strBxOrderNo] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] 
   ([sdtmOrdCreated] asc, [sintMarketID] asc)
   INCLUDE ([strBxOrderNo])
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX 
[IX_tblBOrder_sdtmOrdCreated_INCL] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] 
   ([sdtmOrdCreated] asc)
   INCLUDE ([decBCShipFinal], [decBCShipFullPrice], 
            [decBCShipOfferDisc], [decBCShipOverride], 
            [decBCShipTax], [decBCTotalAmount], [decBCWrittenTotalAmount], 
            [decShipFinal], [decShipFullPrice], [decShipOfferDisc], 
            [decShipOverride], [decShipTax], [decTotalAmount], 
            [decWrittenTotalAmount], [lngAccountParticipantID], 
            [lngOrderedByParticipantID], [sintMarketID], 
            [sintOrderChannelID], [sintOrderStatusID], 
            [sintOrderTypeID], [strBxOrderNo], [strCurrencyCode], 
            [strOfferCode], [strOrderKey])
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED 
INDEX [IX_tblBOrder_sintMarketID_sdtmOrdCreated] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] 
   ([sintMarketID] asc, [sdtmOrdCreated] asc)
   INCLUDE ([sintOrderChannelID], [strBxOrderNo])
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED 
INDEX [IX_tblBOrder__sintOrderChannelID_sdtmOrdCreated_INCL] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] 
   ([sintOrderChannelID] asc, [sdtmOrdCreated] asc)
   INCLUDE ([decBCShipFinal], [decBCShipFullPrice], 
   [decBCShipTax], [decShipFinal], [decShipFullPrice], 
   [decShipTax], [lngAccountParticipantID], [sintMarketID], 
   [sintOrderTypeID], [strBxOrderNo], 
   [strCurrencyCode], [strOrderKey])
   WITH FILLFACTOR = 100

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IX_tblBOrder_strBxOrderNo_sdtmOrdCreated_incl] 
   ON [dbo].[tblBorder] ([strBxOrderNo] asc, 
   [sdtmOrdCreated] asc)
   INCLUDE ([sintOrderChannelID], [sintOrderTypeID], [sintMarketID], 
   [strOrderKey], [lngAccountParticipantID], [strCurrencyCode], 
   [decShipFullPrice], [decShipFinal], [decShipTax], 
   [decBCShipFullPrice], [decBCShipFinal], 
   [decBCShipTax])

Conclusion

I applied my index on the LIVE system, and updated my stored procedure to use SMALLDATETIME, in order to match the data types in the database for the columns involved.

After that, when looking at the query plan I see the picture below:

enter image description here

enter image description here

it was exactly how I wanted it to be.

I think the query optimizer in this case did a good work to get the best query plan on both environments, and I am glad I did not add any query hints.

I learned with the 3 answers posted. thanks to Max Vernon, Paul White and Daniel Hutmacher for their answers.

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
16

If you want good results from the query optimizer, it pays to be careful about data types.

Your variables are typed as datetime2:

DECLARE @OrderStartDate datetime2 = '27 feb 2016';
DECLARE @OrderEndDate  datetime2 = '28 feb 2016';

But the column these are compared to is typed smalldatetime (as the sdtm prefix suggests!):

[sdtmOrdCreated] SMALLDATETIME NOT NULL

The type incompatibility makes it hard for the optimizer to work out the resulting cardinality estimate through a type conversion, as shown in the execution plan xml:

<ScalarOperator ScalarString="GetRangeWithMismatchedTypes([@OrderStartDate],NULL,(22))">
<ScalarOperator ScalarString="GetRangeWithMismatchedTypes(NULL,[@OrderEndDate],(10))">

The current estimate may or may not be accurate (probably not). Fixing the type incompatibility may or may not completely solve your plan selection problem, but it is the first (easy!) thing I would fix before looking deeper into the issue:

DECLARE @OrderStartDate smalldatetime = CONVERT(smalldatetime, '20160227', 112);
DECLARE @OrderEndDate smalldatetime = CONVERT(smalldatetime, '20160228', 112);

Always check the accuracy of cardinality estimates, and the reason for any discrepancy before deciding to rewrite the query or use hints.

See my SQLblog.com article, "Dynamic Seeks and Hidden Implicit Conversions" for more details on the dynamic seek.

Update: Fixing the data type got you the seek plan you wanted. The cardinality estimation errors caused by the type conversion before gave you the slower plan.

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11

SQL Server is doing an index scan since it thinks that is cheaper than seeking to each required row. Most likely, SQL Server is correct, given the choices it has in your setup.

Be aware SQL Server may actually be doing a range scan on the index, as opposed to scanning the entire index.

If you provide the DDL for both tables, along with the other indexes you may have, we may be able to help you make this much less resource intensive.

As a side note, never ever use date literals like that. Instead of:

DECLARE @OrderStartDate DATETIME2 = '27 feb 2016';
DECLARE @OrderEndDate  DATETIME2 = '28 feb 2016';

use this:

DECLARE @OrderStartDate DATETIME2 = '2016-02-27T00:00:00.0000';
DECLARE @OrderEndDate  DATETIME2 = '2016-02-28T00:00:00.0000';

Aaron's post may help clarify that.

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6

To add to Max's answer, I would probably try to split your query into two parts:

DECLARE @OrderStartDate DATETIME2 = {d '2016-02-27'};
DECLARE @OrderEndDate   DATETIME2 = {d '2016-02-28'};

--- Work variable declarations:
DECLARE @minOrderNo varchar(20), @maxOrderNo varchar(20);

--- Find the lowest and highest order number respectively for
--- your date range:
SELECT @minOrderNo=MIN(strBxOrderNo),
       @maxOrderNo=MAX(strBxOrderNo)
FROM    dbo.tblBOrder o
WHERE   o.sdtmOrdCreated >= @OrderStartDate AND
        o.sdtmOrdCreated <  @OrderEndDate;

--- Join orders and order items on their respective clustering keys.
SELECT    o.strBxOrderNo
        , o.sintOrderStatusID
        , o.sintOrderChannelID
        , o.sintOrderTypeID
        , o.sdtmOrdCreated
        , o.sintMarketID
        , o.strOrderKey
        , o.strOfferCode
        , o.strCurrencyCode
        , o.decBCShipFullPrice
        , o.decBCShipFinal
        , o.decBCShipTax
        , o.decBCTotalAmount
        , o.decWrittenTotalAmount
        , o.decBCWrittenTotalAmount
        , o.decBCShipOfferDisc
        , o.decBCShipOverride
        , o.decTotalAmount
        , o.decShipTax
        , o.decShipFinal
        , o.decShipOverride
        , o.decShipOfferDisc
        , o.decShipFullPrice
        , o.lngAccountParticipantID
        , CONVERT(DATE, o.sdtmOrdCreated, 120) as OrderCreatedDateConverted
FROM dbo.tblBOrder AS o
INNER /*MERGE*/ JOIN dbo.tblBOrderItem AS oi ON
    o.strBxOrderNo>=@minOrderNo AND      --- OrderNo filter on "orders"
    o.strBxOrderNo<=@maxOrderNo AND
    oi.strBxOrderNo=o.strBxOrderNo AND   --- Equijoin
    oi.strBxOrderNo>=@minOrderNo AND     --- OrderNo filter on "order items"
    oi.strBxOrderNo<=@maxOrderNo AND
    oi.decCatItemPrice > 0               --- Item price filter on "order items"
OPTION (RECOMPILE);

This query will (a) eliminate the Sort operator (which is expensive because it is blocking and requires a memory grant), (b) create a Merge Join (which you could force with a join hint, but it should happen automatically with enough data). As a bonus, it'll also (c) eliminate the Index Scan.

All in all, the MIN/MAX query uses a highly optimal index on the Orders table to identify a range of order numbers (included in the clustering key) from a non-clustered index on the date column:

MIN/MAX query plan

Then, you can Merge Join the two tables on their respective clustered indexes:

Merge Join of orders and order items

Obviously, I don't have your data to test with, but I imagine this should be a really well-performing solution.

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1
  • +1 I really liked the way of thinking here. It did not work for this case scenario in particular but I got the idea.
    – Marcello Miorelli
    Mar 23, 2016 at 15:19

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