Quest® SQL Optimizer for SQL Server
Version 6.5
Release Notes
April 29, 2008
Quest SQL Optimizer for SQL Server is the most comprehensive optimization solution available for SQL Server environments. This component offers complete SQL performance optimization with problematic SQL detection, automated SQL optimization and benchmarking capabilities. With it you can lower I/O and CPU costs with optimized SQL statements, reduce the learning curve by providing an intuitive SQL optimization environment, streamline the SQL optimization process by avoiding the trial and error method involved with manual SQL tuning. Some of its product highlights include:
Updates to Quest SQL Optimizer for SQL Server
The following is a list of issues addressed and enhancements implemented in this release of Quest SQL Optimizer for SQL Server.
|
Feature |
Resolved Issue |
Defect ID |
SQL Optimizer |
The program no longer hangs when the optimization process has reached the 38% mark when optimizing some SQL statements. |
SC563149 ST41384 |
| Index Expert | An access violation error no longer occurs when you generate indexes when the SQL statement contains an OR operator in a CASE statement. Example SQL: select grd_id, (CASE when grd_id is null OR grd_id < 0 then 0 end) from grade |
SC445923 ST41267 |
| Tuning Lab | The SQL syntax for TOP (n) PERCENT is now supported. | SC506897 ST41293 |
| The text of the Actions | Scenario Explorer menu item "Options" was changed to "Select Columns" to clarify that it was opening the Select Columns window and not the Preferences window. | ST41178 | |
| The Return SQL button (which returns the best alternative to another program, for example, Toad) is now disabled when the SQL statement is entered by the user instead of being sent from another Quest product. | ST47505 | |
| The Actions menu item "SQL Tuning" was change to "Tuning Lab". | ST47497 | |
| Licensing | You are no longer prompted to enter a license key for Quest SQL Optimizer each time you send a SQL statement from Performance Analysis. | SC603285-1 ST46727 |
| You may enter 2 separate trial keys before reaching the key limit. | ST41351 | |
| The "New Tuning Lab Session" button is no longer disabled when the trial license key has expired and you click Cancel on the Product Authorization window. | ST41354 | |
| The program now correctly finds the SQL Optimizer license key which is updated from Quest Central. | SC601235-1 ST48053 |
|
| The trial limit override key now works as expected. | ST44141 | |
| User-Defined Temp Table | You will no longer receive an error when creating a temporary table that is enclosed in brackets []. | SC445697 ST41265 |
The following is a list of issues known to exist at the time of Quest SQL Optimizer for SQL Server release.
|
Feature |
Known Issue |
Defect ID |
| Temp Tables
|
When the DDL for creating the temporary tables in the User-Defined Temp Table window contains a parameter, the Parameter window does not appear so you cannot enter the value for the parameter. Workaround: Edit the DDL to replace the parameter with the value. |
ST41080 |
|
SQL Scanner |
When scanning a SQL reposistory in Quest Performance Analysis, the SQL Scanner only looks for a database with the name of Quest_Performance_Repository. If another name was used for the SQL Repository database, the Scanner will not find it. | ST41320 |
| When you clear the "Show Description as the first page" option on the Description page of the Add Jobs Wizard, the Description page is still displayed as the first page although the text on the page is not displayed. | ST48278 | |
| The SQL Server CURSOR_CLOSE_ON_COMMIT dboption parameter should be set to OFF. Otherwise when the system stored procedure sp_helptext is used in the SQL Scanner module, it may return the following error due to SQL Server BUG #: 57967 (SQLBUG_70) or BUG #:231137 (SHILOH): Server: Msg 16917, Level 16, State 2, Line 0 Cursor is not open. |
||
If the text in a SQL statement contains a control character [#0...#32] inside a quoted string, an error will occur when it is displayed in the Scanned SQL Viewer or when a report is generated. For example, this SQL statement contains control character 3: SELECT 'abc#3def' FROM EMPLOYEE |
ST41369 | |
| The line number for the location of the SQL statement is not correct when the carriage return and line feed characters are split between two blocks in the source text. | ST41370 | |
| When running on Windows Vista and the SQL Scanner is loading, the Loading Data Dictionary window may say that the program is not responding, but if you wait for a few more moments, the SQL Scanner window will open correctly. | ST47539 | |
| When running on Windows Vista, the Execution Plan help does not work. | ST48190 | |
| When scanning SQL statements that use temporary tables and you are using the option to "Include data", the INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE statements that contain a parameter are not including the Scanner Temp Table page. | ST47606 | |
In the Execution Plan pane of the Scanned SQL Viewer window, when you click the Show Plan Detail button, the tables should be displayed in the left pane of the Show Plan Detail window. Sometimes the tables are missing from the display. |
ST41334 | |
| Integration with Quest Central Explorer | When the Quest SQL Optimizer license key has expired and you try to launch Quest SQL Optimizer from Quest Central Explorer, the connection information window appears, but nothing happens after you enter the connection information and click OK. | ST41353 |
| When launching Quest SQL Optimizer from Quest Central Explorer (formally Quest Database Management Solutions or the Launch Pad), you may get an error message
telling you that it failed to launch Quest SQL Optimizer.
Workaround: Contact Support to obtain the most current release of Quest Central Explorer. |
||
| Tuning Lab | A SQL statement that uses the DATEADD function receives an error when double quotes are used in the argument: DATAADD("yyyy",3) Workaround: Remove the double quotes. |
SC612872-1 ST48273 |
| When the Windows setting for the decimal symbol is a comma, the cost of the execution plan is displayed as N/A. | SC585481-3 ST44518 |
|
When running on Windows Vista, the right-click and select "Help On windowname" does not open the Online Help file. |
ST48188 | |
| A SQL statement which has a hidden control character in the text of the SQL statement will be classified as an "Invalid SQL." | ST41386 |
|
When you execute a SQL statement that selects a value from a NVARCHAR column whose size is defined as (MAX), the following error occurs: "Unicode data in a Unicode-only collation or ntext data cannot be sent to clients using DB-Library (such as ISQL) or ODBC version 3.7 or earlier." This error does not occur if the size of NVARCHAR column is defined with a number. |
SC582195 ST44764 |
|
| When you load a saved session and then execute the alternatives, you will get an Invalid SQL statement message for all the SQL alternatives that are using temp tables. | ST48445 | |
When a SQL statement that was sent to the Tuning Lab had the "Trigger Conversion" applied by the scanning process, the SQL statement that was used to create the trigger's temporary table is inserted into the SQL Text window along with the SQL statement. This causes an error when the Optimize, Generate Virtual Indexes, Get Plan or other functions are selected. Workaround: Delete the statement that creates the temporary table from the SQL Text window. |
ST48663 | |
| After the execution process has finished, sometimes no information is displayed on the Resolution Layout. | SC531012 ST41361 |
|
The Retrieve Results function, which sends the SQL statement to another program in order to executed the statement and retrieve the results, does nothing when you launch Quest SQL Optimizer from Spotlight or Performance Analysis. Workaround: Manually copy the SQL statement to another program, such as Toad, and executed it. |
ST41364 | |
| When optimizing a SQL statement using the option: Optimization | Results "Check Compatibility to SQL-92 standard" with "Show Indicator", the SQL statements that are generated are only the ones that compatible with the SQL-92 standard (the same result as the "Generate compatible SQL only" option). The correct results should be all the possible rewrites with a note on the Alert window to indicate which SQL statements are compatible. | ST48902 | |
| The program will freeze if you follow these steps. Send a SQL statement from the SQL Scanner. Clear the Optimization | Results "Check compatibility to SQL-92 standard" option (this is the default setting). Optimize the SQL statement. Select the Optimization | Results - "Check compatibility to SQL-92 standard" option and the "Show Indicator" option. Click the Optimize button. | ST48903 | |
After you have executed the Get Plan function, which retrieves the execution plan for a SQL statement, the SQL classification is displayed in the Alert window. All of the information for the SQL classification is sometimes not displayed in the Alert window. Workaround: Click the Get Plan button a second time. |
ST41330 | |
| Tuning Lab Preferences | On the Optimization | Quota page, the calculation for the maximum number of SQL statements generated by applying hints is not correctly displayed when the Custom setting is selected on the Optimization | Intelligence page. Workaround: After entering the value in the Hint Quota Ratio(%) field, click the up arrow and the down arrow to cause the calculation to be recalculated. |
ST48893 |
| Support Bundle | When running on Windows Vista, when you create the Zip file to send to Tech Support, you will get the error message: "Error - No files to Zip." | ST48189 |
| Connecting to the Database | When the default language of the database login is is simplified or traditional Chinese, you will get the message "Failed to connect to the database" when connecting to either the Tuning Lab or SQL Scanner. | ST48201 |
| Limited User | The first time you launch Quest SQL Optimizer using a "Limited User" you will receive the following error "I/O error 103". When you click OK, Quest SQL Optimizer load and run correctly. | ST48605 |
Before installing Quest SQL Optimizer for SQL Server, ensure your system meets the following minimum hardware and software requirements:
| Platform | Pentium III 500 MHZ minimum |
| Memory | 512 MB of RAM minimum Note: The memory required may vary based on the following:
|
| Hard Disk Space | 1.3 MB of disk space for installation Note: This is the disk space required for a full installation, which includes 457 MB download of temporary setup files that can be removed at the completion of the installation. |
| Operating System | Microsoft® Windows® 2000, 2003, or XP Professional, Vista |
| Browser | Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later |
| PDF Viewer | Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 5.0 or later (for viewing the Installation Guide) |
| Database Client | PC client connection to SQL Server via Windows authentication or DB-Library (SQL Server Authentication) |
| Database Server | Microsoft SQL Server 7, 2000, 2005, or 2008 Note: SQL Server Compact edition is NOT supported. |
This section contains information about installing and operating this product in non-English configurations, such as those needed by customers outside of North America. This section does not replace the materials about supported platforms and configurations found elsewhere in the product documentation. This release supports any single-byte character set. Double-byte or multi-byte character sets are not supported. In this release, all product components should be configured to use the same or compatible character encoding and should be installed to use the same locale and regional options. This release is targeted to support operations in the following regions: North America, Western Europe and Latin America.
The Quest SQL Optimizer for SQL Server release package contains the following products:
Refer to the Installation Guide for installation instructions.
| info@quest.com | |
| Quest Software, Inc. World Headquarters 5 Polaris Way Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 USA |
|
| Web |
Refer to our Web site for regional and international office information.
Quest Support is available to customers who have a trial version of a Quest product or who have purchased a commercial version and have a valid maintenance contract.
Quest Support provides around the clock coverage with SupportLink, our web self-service. Visit SupportLink at http://support.quest.com.
From SupportLink, you can do the following:
View the Global Support Guide for a detailed explanation of support programs, online services, contact information, and policy and procedures.
The guide is available at: http://support.quest.com/pdfs/Global Support Guide.pdf.
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