A query runs fast:
DECLARE @SessionGUID uniqueidentifier
SET @SessionGUID = 'BCBA333C-B6A1-4155-9833-C495F22EA908'
SELECT *
FROM Report_Opener
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUID
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank
subtree cost: 0.502
But putting the same SQL in a stored procedure runs slow, and with a totally different execution plan
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.ViewOpener @SessionGUID uniqueidentifier AS
SELECT *
FROM Report_Opener
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUID
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank
EXECUTE ViewOpener @SessionGUID
Subtree cost: 19.2
I've run
sp_recompile ViewOpener
And it still runs the same (badly), and I've also changed the stored procedure to
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.ViewOpener @SessionGUID uniqueidentifier AS
SELECT *, 'recompile please'
FROM Report_Opener
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUID
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank
And back again, trying to really trick it into recompiling.
I've dropped and recreated the stored procedure in order to get it to generate a new plan.
I've tried forcing recompiles, and prevent parameter sniffing, by using a decoy variable:
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.ViewOpener @SessionGUID uniqueidentifier AS
DECLARE @SessionGUIDbitch uniqueidentifier
SET @SessionGUIDbitch = @SessionGUID
SELECT *
FROM Report_Opener
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUIDbitch
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank
I've also tried defining the stored procedure WITH RECOMPILE:
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.ViewOpener @SessionGUID uniqueidentifier
WITH RECOMPILE
AS
SELECT *
FROM Report_Opener
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUID
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank
So that it's plan is never cached, and I've tried forcing a recompile at execute:
EXECUTE ViewOpener @SessionGUID WITH RECOMPILE
Which didn't help.
I've tried converting the procedure to dynamic SQL:
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.ViewOpener @SessionGUID uniqueidentifier
WITH RECOMPILE AS
DECLARE @SQLString NVARCHAR(500)
SET @SQLString = N'SELECT *
FROM Report_OpenerTest
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUID
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank'
EXECUTE sp_executesql @SQLString,
N'@SessionGUID uniqueidentifier',
@SessionGUID
Which didn't help.
The entity "Report_Opener" is a view, which is not indexed. The view only references underlying tables. No table contains computed columns, indexed or otherwise.
For the hell of it I tried creating the view with
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFER ON
That didn't fix it.
How is it that
I tried moving the definition of the view directly into the stored procedure (violating 3 business rules, and breaking an important encapsulation), and that makes it only about 6x slower.
Why is the stored procedure version so slow? What can possibly account for SQL Server running ad-hoc SQL faster than a different kind of ad-hoc SQL?
I'd really rather not
embed the SQL in code
change the code at all
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 - 8.00.2050 (Intel X86)
Mar 7 2008 21:29:56
Copyright (c) 1988-2003 Microsoft Corporation
Standard Edition on Windows NT 5.2 (Build 3790: Service Pack 2)
But what can account for SQL Server being unable to run as fast as SQL Sever running a query, if not parameter sniffing.
My next attempt will be to have StoredProcedureA call StoredProcedureB call StoredProcedureC call StoredProcedureD to query the view.
And failing that, have the stored procedure call a stored procedure, call a UDF, call a UDF, call a stored procedure, call a UDF to query the view.
To sum up, the following run fast from QA, but slow when put into a stored procedure:
The original:
--Runs fine outside of a stored procedure
SELECT *
FROM Report_OpenerTest
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUID
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank
sp_executesql:
--Runs fine outside of a stored procedure
DECLARE @SQLString NVARCHAR(500)
SET @SQLString = N'SELECT *
FROM Report_OpenerTest
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUID
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank'
EXECUTE sp_executesql @SQLString,
N'@SessionGUID uniqueidentifier',
@SessionGUID
EXEC(@sql):
--Runs fine outside of a stored procedure
DECLARE @sql NVARCHAR(500)
SET @sql = N'SELECT *
FROM Report_OpenerTest
WHERE SessionGUID = '''+CAST(@SessionGUID AS varchar(50))+'''
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank'
EXEC(@sql)
Execution Plans
The good plan:
|--Sort(ORDER BY:([Expr1020] ASC, [Currencies].[Rank] ASC))
|--Compute Scalar(DEFINE:([Expr1020]=If ([Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctCanadianCash') then 1 else If ([Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctMiscellaneous') then 2 else If ([Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctTokens') then 3 else If ([Currencies].[CurrencyType]
|--Nested Loops(Left Outer Join, OUTER REFERENCES:([Openers].[OpenerGUID]))
|--Filter(WHERE:((([Currencies].[IsActive]<>0 AND [Currencies].[OnOpener]<>0) AND ((((((([Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctUSCoin' OR [Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctMiscellaneousUS') OR [Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctUSCash') OR [Currencies].
| |--Nested Loops(Left Outer Join, OUTER REFERENCES:([Currencies].[CurrencyGUID], [Openers].[OpenerGUID]) WITH PREFETCH)
| |--Nested Loops(Left Outer Join)
| | |--Bookmark Lookup(BOOKMARK:([Bmk1016]), OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Windows]))
| | | |--Nested Loops(Inner Join, OUTER REFERENCES:([Openers].[WindowGUID]))
| | | |--Bookmark Lookup(BOOKMARK:([Bmk1014]), OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Openers]))
| | | | |--Index Seek(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Openers].[IX_Openers_SessionGUID]), SEEK:([Openers].[SessionGUID]=[@SessionGUID]) ORDERED FORWARD)
| | | |--Index Seek(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Windows].[IX_Windows]), SEEK:([Windows].[WindowGUID]=[Openers].[WindowGUID]) ORDERED FORWARD)
| | |--Clustered Index Scan(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Currencies].[IX_Currencies_CurrencyType]))
| |--Clustered Index Seek(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[OpenerDetails].[IX_OpenerDetails_OpenerGUIDCurrencyGUID]), SEEK:([OpenerDetails].[OpenerGUID]=[Openers].[OpenerGUID] AND [OpenerDetails].[CurrencyGUID]=[Currenc
|--Hash Match(Cache, HASH:([Openers].[OpenerGUID]), RESIDUAL:([Openers].[OpenerGUID]=[Openers].[OpenerGUID]))
|--Stream Aggregate(DEFINE:([Expr1006]=SUM(If (((([Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctMiscellaneous' OR [Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctTokens') OR [Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctChips') OR [Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctCanadianCoin') OR [
|--Nested Loops(Inner Join, OUTER REFERENCES:([OpenerDetails].[CurrencyGUID]) WITH PREFETCH)
|--Nested Loops(Inner Join)
| |--Index Seek(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Openers].[IX_Openers_OneOpenerPerSession]), SEEK:([Openers].[OpenerGUID]=[Openers].[OpenerGUID]) ORDERED FORWARD)
| |--Clustered Index Seek(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[OpenerDetails].[IX_OpenerDetails_OpenerGUIDCurrencyGUID]), SEEK:([OpenerDetails].[OpenerGUID]=[Openers].[OpenerGUID]) ORDERED FORWARD)
|--Index Seek(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Currencies].[PK_Currencies_CurrencyGUID]), SEEK:([Currencies].[CurrencyGUID]=[OpenerDetails].[CurrencyGUID]) ORDERED FORWARD)
The bad plan
|--Sort(ORDER BY:([Expr1020] ASC, [Currencies].[Rank] ASC))
|--Compute Scalar(DEFINE:([Expr1020]=If ([Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctCanadianCash') then 1 else If ([Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctMiscellaneous') then 2 else If ([Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctTokens') then 3 else If ([Currencies].[Currency
|--Nested Loops(Left Outer Join, OUTER REFERENCES:([Openers].[OpenerGUID]))
|--Filter(WHERE:((([Currencies].[IsActive]<>0 AND [Currencies].[OnOpener]<>0) AND ((((((([Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctUSCoin' OR [Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctMiscellaneousUS') OR [Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctUSCash') OR [Currenc
| |--Nested Loops(Left Outer Join, OUTER REFERENCES:([Currencies].[CurrencyGUID], [Openers].[OpenerGUID]) WITH PREFETCH)
| |--Filter(WHERE:([Openers].[SessionGUID]=[@SessionGUID]))
| | |--Concatenation
| | |--Nested Loops(Left Outer Join)
| | | |--Table Spool
| | | | |--Hash Match(Inner Join, HASH:([Windows].[WindowGUID])=([Openers].[WindowGUID]), RESIDUAL:([Windows].[WindowGUID]=[Openers].[WindowGUID]))
| | | | |--Clustered Index Scan(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Windows].[IX_Windows_CageGUID]))
| | | | |--Table Scan(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Openers]))
| | | |--Table Spool
| | | |--Clustered Index Scan(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Currencies].[IX_Currencies_CurrencyType]))
| | |--Compute Scalar(DEFINE:([Openers].[OpenerGUID]=NULL, [Openers].[SessionGUID]=NULL, [Windows].[UseChipDenominations]=NULL))
| | |--Nested Loops(Left Anti Semi Join)
| | |--Clustered Index Scan(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Currencies].[IX_Currencies_CurrencyType]))
| | |--Row Count Spool
| | |--Table Spool
| |--Clustered Index Seek(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[OpenerDetails].[IX_OpenerDetails_OpenerGUIDCurrencyGUID]), SEEK:([OpenerDetails].[OpenerGUID]=[Openers].[OpenerGUID] AND [OpenerDetails].[CurrencyGUID]=[Cu
|--Hash Match(Cache, HASH:([Openers].[OpenerGUID]), RESIDUAL:([Openers].[OpenerGUID]=[Openers].[OpenerGUID]))
|--Stream Aggregate(DEFINE:([Expr1006]=SUM([partialagg1034]), [Expr1007]=SUM([partialagg1035]), [Expr1008]=SUM([partialagg1036]), [Expr1009]=SUM([partialagg1037]), [Expr1010]=SUM([partialagg1038]), [Expr1011]=SUM([partialagg1039]
|--Nested Loops(Inner Join)
|--Stream Aggregate(DEFINE:([partialagg1034]=SUM(If (((([Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctMiscellaneous' OR [Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctTokens') OR [Currencies].[CurrencyType]='ctChips') OR [Currencies].[CurrencyType]='
| |--Nested Loops(Inner Join, OUTER REFERENCES:([OpenerDetails].[CurrencyGUID]) WITH PREFETCH)
| |--Clustered Index Seek(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[OpenerDetails].[IX_OpenerDetails_OpenerGUIDCurrencyGUID]), SEEK:([OpenerDetails].[OpenerGUID]=[Openers].[OpenerGUID]) ORDERED FORWARD)
| |--Index Seek(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Currencies].[PK_Currencies_CurrencyGUID]), SEEK:([Currencies].[CurrencyGUID]=[OpenerDetails].[CurrencyGUID]) ORDERED FORWARD)
|--Index Seek(OBJECT:([GrobManagementSystemLive].[dbo].[Openers].[IX_Openers_OneOpenerPerSession]), SEEK:([Openers].[OpenerGUID]=[Openers].[OpenerGUID]) ORDERED FORWARD)
The bad-one is eager spooling 6 million rows; the other one isn't.
Note: This isn't a question about tuning a query. I have a query that runs lightning fast. I just want SQL Server to run fast from a stored procedure.
I found the problem, here's the script of the slow and fast versions of the stored procedure:
dbo.ViewOpener__RenamedForCruachan__Slow.PRC
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF
GO
SET ANSI_NULLS OFF
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.ViewOpener_RenamedForCruachan_Slow
@SessionGUID uniqueidentifier
AS
SELECT *
FROM Report_Opener_RenamedForCruachan
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUID
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF
GO
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
dbo.ViewOpener__RenamedForCruachan__Fast.PRC
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF
GO
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.ViewOpener_RenamedForCruachan_Fast
@SessionGUID uniqueidentifier
AS
SELECT *
FROM Report_Opener_RenamedForCruachan
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUID
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF
GO
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
If you didn't spot the difference, I don't blame you. The difference is not in the stored procedure at all. The difference that turns a fast 0.5 cost query into one that does an eager spool of 6 million rows:
Slow: SET ANSI_NULLS OFF
Fast: SET ANSI_NULLS ON
This answer also could be made to make sense, since the view does have a join clause that says:
(table.column IS NOT NULL)
So there is some NULLs involved.
The explanation is further proved by returning to Query Analizer, and running
SET ANSI_NULLS OFF
.
DECLARE @SessionGUID uniqueidentifier
SET @SessionGUID = 'BCBA333C-B6A1-4155-9833-C495F22EA908'
.
SELECT *
FROM Report_Opener_RenamedForCruachan
WHERE SessionGUID = @SessionGUID
ORDER BY CurrencyTypeOrder, Rank
And the query is slow.
So the problem isn't because the query is being run from a stored procedure. The problem is that Enterprise Manager's connection default option is ANSI_NULLS off, rather than ANSI_NULLS on, which is QA's default.
Microsoft acknowledges this fact in KB296769 archive
BUG: Cannot use SQL Enterprise Manager to create stored procedures containing linked server objects
Cause
By default, SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Manager sets ANSI_NULLS to OFF before creating a stored procedure.
The given workaround is to include the ANSI_NULLS option in the stored procedure dialog:
Set ANSI_NULLS ON
Go
Create Proc spXXXX as
....