除了已经发布的综合答案之外，有时能够以编程方式访问执行计划以提取信息也是有用的。下面是示例代码。

DECLARE @TraceID INT
EXEC StartCapture @@SPID, @TraceID OUTPUT
EXEC sp_help 'sys.objects' /*<-- Call your stored proc of interest here.*/
EXEC StopCapture @TraceID

StartCapture定义

CREATE PROCEDURE StartCapture
@Spid INT,
@TraceID INT OUTPUT
AS
DECLARE @maxfilesize BIGINT = 5
DECLARE @filepath NVARCHAR(200) = N'C:\trace_' + LEFT(NEWID(),36)

EXEC sp_trace_create @TraceID OUTPUT, 0, @filepath, @maxfilesize, NULL 

exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 122, 1, 1
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 122, 22, 1
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 122, 34, 1
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 122, 51, 1
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 122, 12, 1
-- filter for spid
EXEC sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 12, 0, 0, @Spid
-- start the trace
EXEC sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 1

停止捕获定义

CREATE  PROCEDURE StopCapture
@TraceID INT
AS
WITH  XMLNAMESPACES ('http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2004/07/showplan' as sql), 
      CTE
     as (SELECT CAST(TextData AS VARCHAR(MAX)) AS TextData,
                ObjectID,
                ObjectName,
                EventSequence,
                /*costs accumulate up the tree so the MAX should be the root*/
                MAX(EstimatedTotalSubtreeCost) AS EstimatedTotalSubtreeCost
         FROM   fn_trace_getinfo(@TraceID) fn
                CROSS APPLY fn_trace_gettable(CAST(value AS NVARCHAR(200)), 1)
                CROSS APPLY (SELECT CAST(TextData AS XML) AS xPlan) x
                CROSS APPLY (SELECT T.relop.value('@EstimatedTotalSubtreeCost',
                                            'float') AS EstimatedTotalSubtreeCost
                             FROM   xPlan.nodes('//sql:RelOp') T(relop)) ca
         WHERE  property = 2
                AND TextData IS NOT NULL
                AND ObjectName not in ( 'StopCapture', 'fn_trace_getinfo' )
         GROUP  BY CAST(TextData AS VARCHAR(MAX)),
                   ObjectID,
                   ObjectName,
                   EventSequence)
SELECT ObjectName,
       SUM(EstimatedTotalSubtreeCost) AS EstimatedTotalSubtreeCost
FROM   CTE
GROUP  BY ObjectID,
          ObjectName  

-- Stop the trace
EXEC sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 0
-- Close and delete the trace
EXEC sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 2
GO

我最喜欢的获取和深入分析查询执行计划的工具是SQL Sentry Plan Explorer。它在执行计划的细节分析和可视化方面比SSMS更加人性化、方便和全面。

下面是一个示例屏幕截图，让你了解这个工具提供了什么功能:

它只是工具中可用的视图之一。注意应用程序窗口底部的一组选项卡，它可以让你获得不同类型的执行计划表示以及有用的附加信息。

此外，我还没有发现它的免费版有任何限制，会阻止你每天使用它，或者迫使你最终购买专业版。所以，如果你更喜欢使用免费版，没有什么能阻止你这么做。

预估执行计划

估计的执行计划是由Optimizer在不运行SQL查询的情况下生成的。

为了获得估计的执行计划，您需要在执行查询之前启用SHOWPLAN_ALL设置。

SET SHOWPLAN_ALL ON

现在，当执行以下SQL查询时:

SELECT p.id
FROM post p
WHERE EXISTS (
  SELECT 1
  FROM post_comment pc
  WHERE
    pc.post_id = p.id AND
    pc.review = 'Bingo'
)
ORDER BY p.title
OFFSET 20 ROWS
FETCH NEXT 10 ROWS ONLY

SQL Server将生成以下估计的执行计划:

| NodeId | Parent | LogicalOp            | EstimateRows | EstimateIO  | EstimateCPU | AvgRowSize | TotalSubtreeCost | EstimateExecutions |
|--------|--------|----------------------|--------------|-------------|-------------|------------|------------------|--------------------|
| 1      | 0      | NULL                 | 10           | NULL        | NULL        | NULL       | 0.03374284       | NULL               |
| 2      | 1      | Top                  | 10           | 0           | 3.00E-06    | 15         | 0.03374284       | 1                  |
| 4      | 2      | Distinct Sort        | 30           | 0.01126126  | 0.000504114 | 146        | 0.03373984       | 1                  |
| 5      | 4      | Inner Join           | 46.698       | 0           | 0.00017974  | 146        | 0.02197446       | 1                  |
| 6      | 5      | Clustered Index Scan | 43           | 0.004606482 | 0.0007543   | 31         | 0.005360782      | 1                  |
| 7      | 5      | Clustered Index Seek | 1            | 0.003125    | 0.0001581   | 146        | 0.0161733        | 43                 |

在运行我们想要获得估计执行计划的查询之后，您需要禁用SHOWPLAN_ALL，否则，当前数据库会话将只生成估计的执行计划，而不是执行提供的SQL查询。

SET SHOWPLAN_ALL OFF

SQL Server Management Studio估计计划

在SQL Server Management Studio应用程序中，您可以通过按CTRL+L快捷键轻松获得任何SQL查询的估计执行计划。

实际执行计划

实际的SQL执行计划由Optimizer在运行SQL查询时生成。如果数据库表统计信息是准确的，那么实际计划应该与估计的计划没有太大差异。

要获得SQL Server上的实际执行计划，需要启用STATISTICS IO, TIME, PROFILE设置，如下SQL命令所示:

SET STATISTICS IO, TIME, PROFILE ON

现在，当运行前面的查询时，SQL Server将生成以下执行计划:

| Rows | Executes | NodeId | Parent | LogicalOp            | EstimateRows | EstimateIO  | EstimateCPU | AvgRowSize | TotalSubtreeCost |
|------|----------|--------|--------|----------------------|--------------|-------------|-------------|------------|------------------|
| 10   | 1        | 1      | 0      | NULL                 | 10           | NULL        | NULL        | NULL       | 0.03338978       |
| 10   | 1        | 2      | 1      | Top                  | 1.00E+01     | 0           | 3.00E-06    | 15         | 0.03338978       |
| 30   | 1        | 4      | 2      | Distinct Sort        | 30           | 0.01126126  | 0.000478783 | 146        | 0.03338679       |
| 41   | 1        | 5      | 4      | Inner Join           | 44.362       | 0           | 0.00017138  | 146        | 0.02164674       |
| 41   | 1        | 6      | 5      | Clustered Index Scan | 41           | 0.004606482 | 0.0007521   | 31         | 0.005358581      |
| 41   | 41       | 7      | 5      | Clustered Index Seek | 1            | 0.003125    | 0.0001581   | 146        | 0.0158571        |
 
SQL Server parse and compile time:
   CPU time = 8 ms, elapsed time = 8 ms.
 
(10 row(s) affected)
Table 'Worktable'. Scan count 0, logical reads 0, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
Table 'post'. Scan count 0, logical reads 116, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
Table 'post_comment'. Scan count 1, logical reads 5, physical reads 0, read-ahead reads 0, lob logical reads 0, lob physical reads 0, lob read-ahead reads 0.
 
(6 row(s) affected)
 
SQL Server Execution Times:
   CPU time = 0 ms,  elapsed time = 1 ms.

运行查询后，我们感兴趣的是获得实际的执行计划，你需要禁用STATISTICS IO, TIME, PROFILE ON设置，如下所示:

SET STATISTICS IO, TIME, PROFILE OFF

SQL Server Management Studio实际计划

在SQL Server Management Studio应用程序中，您可以通过按CTRL+M快捷键轻松获得任何SQL查询的估计执行计划。

查询计划可以通过query_post_execution_showplan事件从扩展事件会话中获得。下面是一个XEvent会话示例:

/*
    Generated via "Query Detail Tracking" template.
*/
CREATE EVENT SESSION [GetExecutionPlan] ON SERVER 
ADD EVENT sqlserver.query_post_execution_showplan(
    ACTION(package0.event_sequence,sqlserver.plan_handle,sqlserver.query_hash,sqlserver.query_plan_hash,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.tsql_frame,sqlserver.tsql_stack)),

/* Remove any of the following events (or include additional events) as desired. */
ADD EVENT sqlserver.error_reported(
    ACTION(package0.event_sequence,sqlserver.client_app_name,sqlserver.database_id,sqlserver.plan_handle,sqlserver.query_hash,sqlserver.query_plan_hash,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.tsql_frame,sqlserver.tsql_stack)
    WHERE ([package0].[greater_than_uint64]([sqlserver].[database_id],(4)) AND [package0].[equal_boolean]([sqlserver].[is_system],(0)))),
ADD EVENT sqlserver.module_end(SET collect_statement=(1)
    ACTION(package0.event_sequence,sqlserver.client_app_name,sqlserver.database_id,sqlserver.plan_handle,sqlserver.query_hash,sqlserver.query_plan_hash,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.tsql_frame,sqlserver.tsql_stack)
    WHERE ([package0].[greater_than_uint64]([sqlserver].[database_id],(4)) AND [package0].[equal_boolean]([sqlserver].[is_system],(0)))),
ADD EVENT sqlserver.rpc_completed(
    ACTION(package0.event_sequence,sqlserver.client_app_name,sqlserver.database_id,sqlserver.plan_handle,sqlserver.query_hash,sqlserver.query_plan_hash,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.tsql_frame,sqlserver.tsql_stack)
    WHERE ([package0].[greater_than_uint64]([sqlserver].[database_id],(4)) AND [package0].[equal_boolean]([sqlserver].[is_system],(0)))),
ADD EVENT sqlserver.sp_statement_completed(SET collect_object_name=(1)
    ACTION(package0.event_sequence,sqlserver.client_app_name,sqlserver.database_id,sqlserver.plan_handle,sqlserver.query_hash,sqlserver.query_plan_hash,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.tsql_frame,sqlserver.tsql_stack)
    WHERE ([package0].[greater_than_uint64]([sqlserver].[database_id],(4)) AND [package0].[equal_boolean]([sqlserver].[is_system],(0)))),
ADD EVENT sqlserver.sql_batch_completed(
    ACTION(package0.event_sequence,sqlserver.client_app_name,sqlserver.database_id,sqlserver.plan_handle,sqlserver.query_hash,sqlserver.query_plan_hash,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.tsql_frame,sqlserver.tsql_stack)
    WHERE ([package0].[greater_than_uint64]([sqlserver].[database_id],(4)) AND [package0].[equal_boolean]([sqlserver].[is_system],(0)))),
ADD EVENT sqlserver.sql_statement_completed(
    ACTION(package0.event_sequence,sqlserver.client_app_name,sqlserver.database_id,sqlserver.plan_handle,sqlserver.query_hash,sqlserver.query_plan_hash,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.tsql_frame,sqlserver.tsql_stack)
    WHERE ([package0].[greater_than_uint64]([sqlserver].[database_id],(4)) AND [package0].[equal_boolean]([sqlserver].[is_system],(0)))) 
ADD TARGET package0.ring_buffer
WITH (MAX_MEMORY=4096 KB,EVENT_RETENTION_MODE=ALLOW_SINGLE_EVENT_LOSS,MAX_DISPATCH_LATENCY=30 SECONDS,MAX_EVENT_SIZE=0 KB,MEMORY_PARTITION_MODE=NONE,TRACK_CAUSALITY=ON,STARTUP_STATE=OFF)
GO

创建会话后，(在SSMS中)转到对象资源管理器并深入到管理|扩展事件|会话。右键单击“GetExecutionPlan”会话并启动它。再次右键选择“观看实时数据”。

接下来，打开一个新的查询窗口并运行一个或多个查询。以下是AdventureWorks的一个例子:

USE AdventureWorks;
GO

SELECT p.Name AS ProductName, 
    NonDiscountSales = (OrderQty * UnitPrice),
    Discounts = ((OrderQty * UnitPrice) * UnitPriceDiscount)
FROM Production.Product AS p 
INNER JOIN Sales.SalesOrderDetail AS sod
    ON p.ProductID = sod.ProductID 
ORDER BY ProductName DESC;
GO

过一会儿，您应该在“GetExecutionPlan: Live Data”选项卡中看到一些结果。单击网格中的query_post_execution_showplan事件之一，然后单击网格下面的“Query Plan”选项卡。它应该看起来像这样:

编辑:XEvent代码和屏幕截图是从SQL/SSMS 2012 w/ SP2生成的。如果您使用的是SQL 2008/R2，则可以调整脚本以使其运行。但那个版本没有GUI，所以你需要提取showplan XML，保存为*。并在SSMS中打开。这是麻烦的。XEvents在SQL 2005或更早的版本中并不存在。所以，如果你没有使用SQL 2012或更高版本，我强烈建议你使用这里发布的其他答案之一。

解释执行计划可能会非常详细，并占用大量阅读时间，但总的来说，如果你在查询之前使用'explain'，它应该会给你很多信息，包括哪些部分首先执行等等。 如果你想了解更多关于这方面的细节，我写了一篇关于这方面的小博客，它也会给你指明正确的裁判。 https://medium.com/swlh/jetbrains-datagrip-explain-plan-ac406772c470

除了前面所说的，还有一件重要的事情需要知道。

Query plans are often too complex to be represented by the built-in XML column type which has a limitation of 127 levels of nested elements. That is one of the reasons why sys.dm_exec_query_plan may return NULL or even throw an error in earlier MS SQL versions, so generally it's safer to use sys.dm_exec_text_query_plan instead. The latter also has a useful bonus feature of selecting a plan for a particular statement rather than the whole batch. Here's how you use it to view plans for currently running statements:

SELECT p.query_plan
FROM sys.dm_exec_requests AS r
OUTER APPLY sys.dm_exec_text_query_plan(
                r.plan_handle,
                r.statement_start_offset,
                r.statement_end_offset) AS p

然而，与XML列相比，结果表中的文本列不是很方便。为了能够单击要在单独的选项卡中作为图表打开的结果，而不必将其内容保存到文件中，您可以使用一个小技巧(记住您不能只使用CAST(…AS XML))，尽管这将只适用于单行:

SELECT Tag = 1, Parent = NULL, [ShowPlanXML!1!!XMLTEXT] = query_plan
FROM sys.dm_exec_text_query_plan(
                -- set these variables or copy values
                -- from the results of the above query
                @plan_handle,
                @statement_start_offset,
                @statement_end_offset)
FOR XML EXPLICIT