Question

I wonder if ColdFusion can get the execution plan from Microsoft SQL Server?
Or even the Estimated execution plan.
It would be nice to get a query back of all the costs.

Answer 1

As mentioned in the link @James posted, there are several methods you can use to retrieve the information about the execution plan using a simple cfquery. A couple things to keep in mind:

• SET SHOWPLAN options are usually applied to the session connection meaning they may persist beyond the current request if you are using connection pooling (which is undesirable). Be sure to always disable the setting at the end of the query – even if an error occurs.

• Some SET SHOWPLAN options return multiple resultsets. CFQuery only returns a single resultset. So it may not capture all of the data returned.

• Most of the system views and procedures (sys.dm_exec_sql_text, etcetera …) require elevated permissions. The datasource user must be granted special access to use these objects. So keep in mind the security implications.

…To execute sys.dm_exec_query_plan, a user must be a member of the
sysadmin fixed server role or have the VIEW SERVER STATE permission on
the server.

---

UPDATE:
As @Travis mentioned in the comments, SET SHOWPLAN options must be run separately. So you need separate cfquery’s to toggle the setting ON|OFF before and after the main query. Here is a quick and dirty example. Note, the transaction is to ensure the same connection is used throughout. It may be overkill, but should not hurt anything.

<cftransaction>
    <cftry>
        <!--- note, SHOWPLAN_ALL does NOT execute the SQL --->
        <cfquery name="toggleStats" datasource="someDSN">
            SET SHOWPLAN_ALL ON
        </cfquery>
        <cfquery name="getQueryStats" datasource="someDSN">
            --- some sql query here 
        </cfquery>
        <cfcatch>
            <!--- rethrow and rollback automatically --->
            <cfrethrow>
        </cfcatch>
        <cffinally>
            <!--- always disable the setting --->
            <cfquery name="toggleStats" datasource="someDSN">
                SET SHOWPLAN_ALL OFF
            </cfquery>
        </cffinally>
    </cftry>
</cftransaction>

<cfif structKeyExists(variables, "getQueryStats")>
    <cfdump var="#getQueryStats#" label="Query Statistics">
</cfif>