NC index seek vs NC index scan with implicit conversion

Question

NC index seek vs NC index scan with implicit conversion

jhager

SSCrazy

Points: 2310
More actions
November 12, 2013 at 7:20 am

#395805

Hi all,
I've been looking thru our production plan cache and have found a number of implicit conversions. Most are of similar "type", such as NVARCHAR(4) --> VARCHAR(15). I built a small test script to see if there is any significant impact of the conversion: I discovered when there is no conversion, I get a NC index seek; when there is conversion, I get a NC index scan. But the cost, estimated vs. actual rows, etc. is the same (perhaps my sample size is too smal, or not "diverse" enough?)
Any info is appreciated.
SCRIPT:
IF OBJECT_ID(N'JSHTest', N'U') IS NOT NULL
DROP TABLE JSHTest;
GO
CREATE TABLE JSHTest
(
Col01 INT NOT NULL
,Col02 VARCHAR(15)
);
INSERT INTO JSHTest
VALUES
( 1, 'ABC' ),
( 2, 'DEF' ),
( 3, 'GHI' ),
( 4, 'JKL' ),
( 5, 'MNO' ),
( 6, 'PQR' ),
( 7, 'STU' ),
( 8, 'GHI' ),
( 9, 'YZ' ),
( 10, 'GHI' );
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX JSHTest_NCIX01 ON JSHTest
(Col02);
ALTER TABLE JSHTest
ADD CONSTRAINT JSHTest_PK PRIMARY KEY (Col01);
UPDATE STATISTICS JSHTest
WITH FULLSCAN;
DECLARE @VarNVC NVARCHAR(4) = N'GHI';
DECLARE @VarVC VARCHAR(15) = 'GHI';
SELECT
*
FROM
JSHTest
WHERE
Col02 = @VarNVC;
SELECT
*
FROM
JSHTest
WHERE
Col02 = @VarVC;

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Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 1

Your sample set is way too small. Everything's fast on 10 rows.

Estimated and actual rows will be the same for the seek and scan, because it's the number of rows returned by the operator, not the number of rows it read.

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

jhager SSCrazy Points: 2310 More actions · Answer 2

Thanks, I'll cook up a test on a much larger scale. I was hoping the "quick" test would show not only the operator difference but some indicator why the difference.

Thanks Gail.

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 3

The why is pretty simple. Any function when used on a column makes the predicate non-SARGable, or not usable as a seek predicate. Implicit conversions are same as explicit conversions, same as any other function on the column.

SELECT

*

FROM

JSHTest

WHERE

Col02 = '' + @VarNVC;