In this post, I show you how to determine exactly which statistics objects were used by the query optimizer to produce an execution plan. Trace Flags We will need three undocumented trace flags.  The first one (3604) is well-known – it redirects trace output to the client so it appears in the SSMS messages tab. The second trace flag is ...

If you look up Table Hints in Books Online, you’ll find the following statement: If a clustered index exists, INDEX(0) forces a clustered index scan and INDEX(1) forces a clustered index scan or seek. If no clustered index exists, INDEX(0) forces a table scan and INDEX(1) is interpreted as an error. The interesting thing there is ...