Question

I have two t-sql queries using SqlServer 2005. How can I measure how long it takes for each one to run?

Using my stopwatch doesn’t cut it.

Answer 1

One simplistic approach to measuring the “elapsed time” between events is to just grab the current date and time.

In SQL Server Management Studio

SELECT GETDATE();
SELECT /* query one */ 1 ;
SELECT GETDATE();
SELECT /* query two */ 2 ; 
SELECT GETDATE(); 

To calculate elapsed times, you could grab those date values into variables, and use the DATEDIFF function:

DECLARE @t1 DATETIME;
DECLARE @t2 DATETIME;

SET @t1 = GETDATE();
SELECT /* query one */ 1 ;
SET @t2 = GETDATE();
SELECT DATEDIFF(millisecond,@t1,@t2) AS elapsed_ms;

SET @t1 = GETDATE();
SELECT /* query two */ 2 ;
SET @t2 = GETDATE();
SELECT DATEDIFF(millisecond,@t1,@t2) AS elapsed_ms;

That’s just one approach. You can also get elapsed times for queries using SQL Profiler.