DBMS_XPLAN
The DBMS_XPLAN
package provides an easy way to display the output of the EXPLAIN
PLAN
command in several, predefined formats. You can also use the DBMS_XPLAN
package to display the plan of a statement stored in the Automatic Workload Repository (AWR) or stored in a SQL tuning set. It further provides a way to display the SQL execution plan and SQL execution runtime statistics for cached SQL cursors based on the information stored in the V$SQL_PLAN
andV$SQL_PLAN_STATISTICS_ALL
fixed views. Finally, it displays plans from a SQL plan baseline.
See Also:
-
For more information on the
EXPLAIN
PLAN
command, the AWR, and SQL tuning set, see Oracle Database Performance Tuning Guide. -
For more information on the
V$SQL_PLAN
andV$SQL_PLAN_STATISTICS
fixed views, see Oracle Database Reference.
This chapter contains the following topics:
-
-
Overview
-
Security Model
-
Examples
-
Using DBMS_XPLAN
Overview
The DBMS_XPLAN
package supplies five table functions:
-
DISPLAY
- to format and display the contents of a plan table. -
DISPLAY_AWR
- to format and display the contents of the execution plan of a stored SQL statement in the AWR. -
DISPLAY_CURSOR
- to format and display the contents of the execution plan of any loaded cursor. -
DISPLAY_SQL_PLAN_BASELINE
- to display one or more execution plans for the SQL statement identified by SQL handle -
DISPLAY_SQLSET
- to format and display the contents of the execution plan of statements stored in a SQL tuning set.
Security Model
This package runs with the privileges of the calling user, not the package owner (SYS
). The table function DISPLAY_CURSOR
requires to have select privileges on the following fixed views: V$SQL_PLAN
, V$SESSION
and V$SQL_PLAN_STATISTICS_ALL.
Using the DISPLAY_AWR Function requires the user to have SELECT
privileges on DBA_HIST_SQL_PLAN
, DBA_HIST_SQLTEXT
, and V$DATABASE
.
Using the DISPLAY_SQLSET Functionrequires the user to have the SELECT
privilege on ALL_SQLSET_STATEMENTS
and ALL_SQLSET_PLANS
.
Using DISPLAY_SQL_PLAN_BASELINE Function the user requires the user to have the SELECT
privilege on DBA_SQL_PLAN_BASELINES
.
All these privileges are automatically granted as part of the SELECT_CATALOG
role.
Examples
Displaying a Plan Table Using DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY
Execute an explain plan command on a SELECT
statement:
EXPLAIN PLAN FOR SELECT * FROM emp e, dept d WHERE e.deptno = d.deptno AND e.ename='benoit';
Display the plan using the DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY
table function
SET LINESIZE 130 SET PAGESIZE 0 SELECT * FROM table(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY);
This query produces the following output:
Plan hash value: 3693697075 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Id | Operation | Name | Rows | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 0 | SELECT STATEMENT | | 1 | 57 | 6 (34)| 00:00:01 | |* 1 | HASH JOIN | | 1 | 57 | 6 (34)| 00:00:01 | |* 2 | TABLE ACCESS FULL| EMP | 1 | 37 | 3 (34)| 00:00:01 | | 3 | TABLE ACCESS FULL| DEPT | 4 | 80 | 3 (34)| 00:00:01 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predicate Information (identified by operation id): --------------------------------------------------- 1 - access("E"."DEPTNO"="D"."DEPTNO") 2 - filter("E"."ENAME"='benoit') 15 rows selected.
Displaying a Cursor Execution Plan Using DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR
By default, the table function DISPLAY_CURSOR
formats the execution plan for the last SQL statement executed by the session. For example:
SELECT ename FROM emp e, dept d WHERE e.deptno = d.deptno AND e.empno=7369; ENAME ---------- SMITH
To display the execution plan of the last executed statement for that session:
SET PAGESIZE 0 SELECT * FROM table(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR);
This query produces the following output:
Plan hash value: 3693697075, SQL hash value: 2096952573, child number: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------ SELECT ename FROM emp e, dept d WHERE e.deptno = d.deptno AND e.empno=7369 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Id | Operation | Name | Rows | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 0 | SELECT STATEMENT | | | | | | |* 1 | HASH JOIN | | 1 | 16 | 6 (34)| 00:00:01 | |* 2 | TABLE ACCESS FULL| EMP | 1 | 13 | 3 (34)| 00:00:01 | | 3 | TABLE ACCESS FULL| DEPT | 4 | 12 | 3 (34)| 00:00:01 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predicate Information (identified by operation id): --------------------------------------------------- 1 - access("E"."DEPTNO"="D"."DEPTNO") 2 - filter("E"."EMPNO"=7369) 21 rows selected.
You can also use the table function DISPLAY_CURSOR
to display the execution plan for any loaded cursor stored in the cursor cache. In that case, you must supply a reference to the child cursor to the table function. This includes the SQL ID of the statement and optionally the child number.
Run a query with a distinctive comment:
SELECT /* TOTO */ ename, dname FROM dept d join emp e USING (deptno);
Get sql_id
and child_number
for the preceding statement:
SELECT sql_id, child_number FROM v$sql WHERE sql_text LIKE '%TOTO%'; SQL_ID CHILD_NUMBER ---------- ----------------------------- gwp663cqh5qbf 0
Display the execution plan for the cursor:
SELECT * FROM table(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR(('gwp663cqh5qbf',0)); Plan hash value: 3693697075, SQL ID: gwp663cqh5qbf, child number: 0 -------------------------------------------------------- SELECT /* TOTO */ ename, dname FROM dept d JOIN emp e USING (deptno); ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Id | Operation | Name | Rows | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 0 | SELECT STATEMENT | | | | 7 (100)| | | 1 | SORT GROUP BY | | 4 | 64 | 7 (43)| 00:00:01 | |* 2 | HASH JOIN | | 14 | 224 | 6 (34)| 00:00:01 | | 3 | TABLE ACCESS FULL| DEPT | 4 | 44 | 3 (34)| 00:00:01 | | 4 | TABLE ACCESS FULL| EMP | 14 | 70 | 3 (34)| 00:00:01 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predicate Information (identified by operation id): --------------------------------------------------- 2 - access("E"."DEPTNO"="D"."DEPTNO")
Instead of issuing two queries, one to the get the sql_id and child_number pair and one to display the plan, you can combine these in a single query:
Display the execution plan of all cursors matching the string 'TOTO':
SELECT t.* FROM v$sql s, table(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR(s.sql_id, s.child_number)) t WHERE sql_text LIKE '%TOTO%';
Displaying a Plan Table with Parallel Information
By default, only relevant information is reported by the display and display_cursor
table functions. In Displaying a Plan Table Using DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY, the query does not execute in parallel. Hence, information related to the parallelization of the plan is not reported. As shown in the following example, parallel information is reported only if the query executes in parallel.
ALTER TABLE emp PARALLEL; EXPLAIN PLAN for SELECT * FROM emp e, dept d WHERE e.deptno = d.deptno AND e.ename ='hermann' ORDER BY e.empno;
Display the plan using the DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY
table function
SET LINESIZE 130 SET PAGESIZE 0 SELECT * FROM table(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY); Plan hash value: 3693697345
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Id | Operation | Name | Rows | Bytes | Cost (%CPU)| Time | TQ |INOUT |PQ Distrib | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 0 | SELECT STATEMENT | | 1 | 117 | 6 (50) | 00:00:01 | | | | | 1 | PX COORDINATOR | | | | | | | | | | 2 | PX SEND QC (ORDER) |:TQ10003 | 1 | 117 | 6 (50) | 00:00:01 | Q1,03 | P->S | QC (ORDER) | | 3 | SORT ORDER BY | | 1 | 117 | 6 (50) | 00:00:01 | Q1,03 | PCWP | | | 4 | PX RECEIVE | | 1 | 117 | 5 (40) | 00:00:01 | Q1,03 | PCWP | | | 5 | PX SEND RANGE |:TQ10002 | 1 | 117 | 5 (40) | 00:00:01 | Q1,02 | P->P | RANGE | |* 6 | HASH JOIN | | 1 | 117 | 5 (40) | 00:00:01 | Q1,02 | PCWP | | | 7 | PX RECEIVE | | 1 | 87 | 2 (50) | 00:00:01 | Q1,02 | PCWP | | | 8 | PX SEND HASH |:TQ10001 | 1 | 87 | 2 (50) | 00:00:01 | Q1,01 | P->P | HASH | | 9 | PX BLOCK ITERATOR | | 1 | 87 | 2 (50) | 00:00:01 | Q1,01 | PCWC | | |* 10| TABLE ACCESS FULL | EMP | 1 | 87 | 2 (50) | 00:00:01 | Q1,01 | PCWP | | | 11 | BUFFER SORT | | | | | | Q1,02 | PCWC | | | 12 | PX RECEIVE | | 4 | 120 | 3 (34) | 00:00:01 | Q1,02 | PCWP | | | 13 | PX SEND HASH |:TQ10000 | 4 | 120 | 3 (34) | 00:00:01 | | S->P | HASH | | 14 | TABLE ACCESS FULL | DEPT | 4 | 120 | 3 (34) | 00:00:01 | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predicate Information (identified by operation id): --------------------------------------------------- 6 - access("E"."DEPTNO"="D"."DEPTNO") 10 - filter("E"."ENAME"='hermann') ---------------------------------------------------
When the query is parallel, information related to parallelism is reported: table queue number (TQ
column), table queue type (INOUT
) and table queue distribution method (PQ Distrib
).
By default, if several plans in the plan table match the statement_id
parameter passed to the display table function (default value is NULL
), only the plan corresponding to the last EXPLAIN
PLAN
command is displayed. Hence, there is no need to purge the plan table after each EXPLAIN
PLAN
. However, you should purge the plan table regularly to ensure good performance in the execution of the DISPLAY
table function. If no plan table is created, Oracle will use a global temporary table to store any plan information for individual users and will preserve its content throughout the lifespan of a session. Note that you cannot truncate the content of a global temporary table.
For ease of use, you can define a view on top of the display table function and then use that view to display the output of the EXPLAIN
PLAN
command:
Using a View to Display Last Explain Plan
# define plan view CREATE VIEW PLAN AS SELECT * FROM TABLE(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY); # display the output of the last explain plan command SELECT * FROM PLAN;
Summary of DBMS_XPLAN Subprograms
Table 164-1 DBMS_XPLAN Package Subprograms
Subprogram | Description |
---|---|
Displays the contents of the plan table |
|
Displays the contents of an execution plan stored in the AWR |
|
Displays the execution plan of any cursor in the cursor cache |
|
Displays one or more execution plans for the specified SQL handle of a SQL plan baseline |
|
Displays the execution plan of a given statement stored in a SQL tuning set |
DISPLAY Function
This table function displays the contents of the plan table.
In addition, you can use this table function to display any plan (with or without statistics) stored in a table as long as the columns of this table are named the same as columns of the plan table (or V$SQL_PLAN_STATISTICS_ALL
if statistics are included). You can apply a predicate on the specified table to select rows of the plan to display.
DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY( table_name IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT 'PLAN_TABLE', statement_id IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL, format IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT 'TYPICAL', filter_preds IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL);
Table 164-2 DISPLAY Function Parameters
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
|
Specifies the table name where the plan is stored. This parameter defaults to |
|
Specifies the |
|
Controls the level of details for the plan. It accepts four values:
For finer control on the display output, the following keywords can be added to the above three standard format options to customize their default behavior. Each keyword either represents a logical group of plan table columns (such as
Format keywords can be prefixed by the sign ' If the target plan table (see |
|
SQL filter predicate(s) to restrict the set of rows selected from the table where the plan is stored. When value is Can reference any column of the table where the plan is stored and can contain any SQL construct (for example, sub-query, function calls (see |
Here are some ways you might use variations on the format
parameter:
-
Use '
ALL -PROJECTION -NOTE
' to display everything except the projection and note sections. -
Use '
TYPICAL PROJECTION
' to display using the typical format with the additional projection section (which is normally excluded under the typical format). Since typical is default, using simply 'PROJECTION
' is equivalent. -
Use '
-BYTES -COST -PREDICATE
' to display using the typical format but excluding optimizer cost and byte estimates as well as the predicate section. -
Use '
BASIC ROWS
' to display basic information with the additional number of rows estimated by the optimizer.WARNING:
Application developers should expose the
filter_preds
parameter to end-users only after careful consideration because this could expose the application to SQL injection. Indeed,filter_preds
can potentially reference any table or execute any server function for which the database user invoking the table function has privileges.
To display the result of the last EXPLAIN
PLAN
command stored in the plan table:
SELECT * FROM table (DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY);
To display from other than the default plan table, "my_plan_table
":
SELECT * FROM table (DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY('my_plan_table'));
To display the minimum plan information:
SELECT * FROM table (DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY('plan_table', null, 'basic'));
To display the plan for a statement identified by 'foo
', such as statement_id='foo'
:
SELECT * FROM table (DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY('plan_table', 'foo'));
DISPLAY_AWR Function
This table function displays the contents of an execution plan stored in the AWR.
DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_AWR( sql_id IN VARCHAR2, plan_hash_value IN NUMBER DEFAULT NULL, db_id IN NUMBER DEFAULT NULL, format IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT TYPICAL);
Table 164-3 DISPLAY_AWR Table Function Parameters
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
|
Specifies the |
|
Specifies the |
|
Specifies the |
|
Controls the level of details for the plan. It accepts four values:
|
For finer control on the display output, the following keywords can be added to the above three standard format options to customize their default behavior. Each keyword either represents a logical group of plan table columns (such as
Format keywords can be prefixed by the sign ' |
-
To use the
DISPLAY_AWR
functionality, the calling user must haveSELECT
privilege onDBA_HIST_SQL_PLAN
.DBA_HIST_SQLTEXT
, andV$DATABASE
, otherwise it will show an appropriate error message. -
Here are some ways you might use variations on the
format
parameter:-
Use '
ALL -PROJECTION -NOTE
' to display everything except the projection and note sections. -
Use '
TYPICAL PROJECTION
' to display using the typical format with the additional projection section (which is normally excluded under the typical format). Since typical is default, using simply 'PROJECTION
' is equivalent. -
Use '
-BYTES -COST -PREDICATE
' to display using the typical format but excluding optimizer cost and byte estimates as well as the predicate section. -
Use '
BASIC ROWS
' to display basic information with the additional number of rows estimated by the optimizer.
-
To display the different execution plans associated with the SQL ID 'atfwcg8anrykp
':
SELECT * FROM table(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_AWR('atfwcg8anrykp'));
To display all execution plans of all stored SQL statements containing the string 'TOTO
':
SELECT tf.* FROM DBA_HIST_SQLTEXT ht, table (DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_AWR(ht.sql_id,null, null, 'ALL' )) tf WHERE ht.sql_text like '%TOTO%';
DISPLAY_CURSOR Function
This table function displays the explain plan of any cursor loaded in the cursor cache. In addition to the explain plan, various plan statistics (such as. I/O, memory and timing) can be reported (based on the V$SQL_PLAN_STATISTICS_ALL VIEWS
).
DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR( sql_id IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT NULL, child_number IN NUMBER DEFAULT NULL, format IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT 'TYPICAL');
Table 164-4 DISPLAY_CURSOR Function Parameters
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
|
Specifies the |
|
Child number of the cursor to display. If not supplied, the execution plan of all cursors matching the supplied |
|
Controls the level of details for the plan. It accepts four values:
For finer control on the display output, the following keywords can be added to the above three standard format options to customize their default behavior. Each keyword either represents a logical group of plan table columns (such as |
Format keywords must be separated by either a comma or a space:
The following two formats are deprecated but supported for backward compatibility:
Format keywords can be prefixed by the sign ' |
-
To use the
DISPLAY_CURSOR
functionality, the calling user must haveSELECT
privilege on the fixed viewsV$SQL_PLAN_STATISTICS_ALL
,V$SQL
andV$SQL_PLAN
, otherwise it will show an appropriate error message. -
Here are some ways you might use variations on the
format
parameter:-
Use '
ALL -PROJECTION -NOTE
' to display everything except the projection and note sections. -
Use '
TYPICAL PROJECTION
' to display using the typical format with the additional projection section (which is normally excluded under the typical format). Since typical is default, using simply 'PROJECTION
' is equivalent. -
Use '
-BYTES -COST -PREDICATE
' to display using the typical format but excluding optimizer cost and byte estimates as well as the predicate section. -
Use '
BASIC ROWS
' to display basic information with the additional number of rows estimated by the optimizer.
-
To display the execution plan of the last SQL
statement executed by the current session:
SELECT * FROM table ( DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR);
To display the execution plan of all children associated with the SQL ID 'atfwcg8anrykp
':
SELECT * FROM table ( DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR('atfwcg8anrykp'));
To display runtime statistics for the cursor included in the preceding statement:
SELECT * FROM table ( DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR('atfwcg8anrykp', NULL, 'ALLSTATS LAST');
DISPLAY_SQL_PLAN_BASELINE Function
This table function displays one or more execution plans for the specified SQL handle of a SQL plan baseline.
DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_SQL_PLAN_BASELINE ( sql_handle IN VARCHAR2 := NULL, plan_name IN VARCHAR2 := NULL, format IN VARCHAR2 := 'TYPICAL') RETURN dbms_xplan_type_table;
Table 164-5 DISPLAY_SQL_PLAN_BASELINE Function Parameters
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
|
SQL statement handle. It identifies a SQL statement whose plan(s) are to be displayed. |
|
Plan name. It identifies a specific plan. Default NULL means all plans associated with identified SQL statement are explained and displayed. |
|
Format string determines what information stored in the plan displayed. One of three format values ('BASIC', 'TYPICAL', 'ALL') can be used, each representing a common use case. |
A PL/SQL type table
This procedure uses plan information stored in the plan baseline to explain and display the plans.It is possible that the plan_id stored in the SQL management base may not match with the plan_id
of the generated plan. A mismatch between stored plan_id
and generated plan_id
means that it is a non-reproducible plan. Such a plan is deemed invalid and will be bypassed by the optimizer during SQL compilation.
Display all plans of a SQL statement identified by the SQL handle 'SYS_SQL_b1d49f6074ab95af' using TYPICAL format
SET LINESIZE 150 SET PAGESIZE 2000 SELECT t.* FROM TABLE(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_SQL_PLAN_BASELINE( 'SYS_SQL_b1d49f6074ab95af')) t;
Display all plans of one or more SQL statements containing the string 'HR2' using BASIC format
SET LINESIZE 150 SET PAGESIZE 2000 SELECT t.* FROM (SELECT DISTINCT sql_handle FROM dba_sql_plan_baselines WHERE sql_text like '%HR2%') pb, TABLE(DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_SQL_PLAN_BASELINE(pb.sql_handle, NULL, 'BASIC')) t;
DISPLAY_SQLSET Function
This table function displays the execution plan of a given statement stored in a SQL tuning set.
DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_SQLSET( sqlset_name IN VARCHAR2, sql_id IN VARCHAR2, plan_hash_value IN NUMBER := NULL, format IN VARCHAR2 := 'TYPICAL', sqlset_owner IN VARCHAR2 := NULL) RETURN DBMS_XPLAN_TYPE_TABLE PIPELINED;
Table 164-6 DISPLAY_SQLSET Function Parameters
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
|
Name of the SQL Tuning Set |
|
Specifies the sql_id value for a SQL statement having its plan stored in the SQL tuning set. You can find all stored SQL statements by querying table function |
|
Optional parameter. Identifies a specific stored execution plan for a SQL statement. If suppressed, all stored execution plans are shown. |
|
Controls the level of details for the plan. It accepts four values:
|
For finer control on the display output, the following keywords can be added to the above three standard format options to customize their default behavior. Each keyword either represents a logical group of plan table columns (such as
The following two formats are deprecated but supported for backward compatibility:
Format keywords can be prefixed by the sign ' |
|
|
The owner of the SQL tuning set. The default is the current user. |
Here are some ways you might use variations on the format
parameter:
-
Use '
ALL -PROJECTION -NOTE
' to display everything except the projection and note sections. -
Use '
TYPICAL PROJECTION
' to display using the typical format with the additional projection section (which is normally excluded under the typical format). Since typical is default, using simply 'PROJECTION
' is equivalent. -
Use '
-BYTES -COST -PREDICATE
' to display using the typical format but excluding optimizer cost and byte estimates as well as the predicate section. -
Use '
BASIC ROWS
' to display basic information with the additional number of rows estimated by the optimizer.
To display the execution plan for the SQL statement associated with SQL ID 'gwp663cqh5qbf
' and PLAN
HASH
3693697075
in the SQL Tuning Set called 'OLTP_optimization_0405
":
SELECT * FROM table ( DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_SQLSET( 'OLTP_optimization_0405','gwp663cqh5qbf', 3693697075));
To display all execution plans of the SQL ID 'atfwcg8anrykp
' stored in the SQL tuning set:
SELECT * FROM table ( DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_SQLSET( 'OLTP_optimization_0405','gwp663cqh5qbf'));
To display runtime statistics for the SQL statement included in the preceding statement:
SELECT * FROM table ( DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_SQLSET( 'OLTP_optimization_0405', 'gwp663cqh5qbf', NULL, 'ALLSTATS LAST');