Checked for relevance on 10-Feb-2012

TKPROF and Problem Solving

==========================
Purpose
------This document discusses the use of the following:
*
SQL TRACE
*
EXPLAIN PLAN
*
TKPROF
Scope & Application
-------------------For users wanting to obtain a query plan and/or execution times for their
queries.
Related Documents
-----------------The majority of the material covered in this document can be found in
the following manuals:
*
Oracle7 Server SQL Reference
*
Oracle7 Server Tuning
Introduction
-----------Much information can be gathered about the performance of an Oracle
database from the dynamic 'V$' views, as these are documented in the
Oracle7 Server Manual. Oracle also provides additional performance
diagnostic tools to assist in monitoring and tuning the server.
The reader should be familiar with the concepts of the Oracle Server
initialization file and startup parameters. Most of the suggestions
described in this document should be conducted by an experienced DBA.
Overview Of SQL TRACE
--------------------The diagnostic tool 'sql trace' provides performance information about
individual SQL statements and generates the following statistics for
each statement:
*
*
*
*
*

parse, execute, and fetch counts

CPU and elapsed times
physical reads and logical reads
number of rows processed
misses on the library cache

This information is input to a trace (.trc) file and sql trace can be
enabled/disabled for a session or an instance.

Setting Initialization Parameters

--------------------------------The following parameters need to be set up in the "init<sid>.ora" file
for the particular instance (SID) that you wish to use SQL Trace:
*

SQL_TRACE
+ Enable/Disable SQL Trace for the instance.
Values
-----TRUE
Enable statistics to be collected
for all sessions.
FALSE Disable statistics to be collected
for all sessions.

TIMED_STATISTICS
+ Enable/Disable the collection of timed
statistics, such as CPU and elapsed times.
Values
-----TRUE
Enable timing (we usually recommend this)
FALSE Default value.

MAX_DUMP_FILE_SIZE
+ Specifies the maximum size of trace
files operating system blocks.
Values
-----The default value for this is 500 but if your
trace file is truncated then increase this value.

USER_DUMP_DEST
+ Specifies the destination for the trace file.
Values
-----The default value for this parameter is the default
destination for system dumps on your operating system.

Enabling SQL Trace

-----------------The SQL Trace facility can either be enabled/disabled for an individual
session or the instance.
*

To enable the SQL trace facility for your session

issue the following SQL statement:
ALTER SESSION
SET SQL_TRACE = TRUE;

To disable the SQL trace facility for your session

issue the following SQL statement:
ALTER SESSION

SET SQL_TRACE = FALSE;

Enabling TIMED_STATISTICS
------------------------The parameter TIMED_STATISTICS can be enabled/disabled dynamically by using
ALTER SYSTEM
SET TIMED_STATISTICS = TRUE;
or
ALTER SESSION
SET TIMED_STATISTICS = TRUE;
To disable set TIMED_STATISTICS = FALSE:
SQL Trace Facility for an Instance
---------------------------------Note that if the initialization parameter SQL_TRACE=TRUE, then statistics
will be gathered for ALL sessions. If the facility has been enabled for
the instance, it may be disabled for an individual session by issuing by
the above SQL statement.
Trace Files
----------Oracle will generate trace (.trc) files for every session where the value
of SQL_TRACE = TRUE and write them to the USER_DUMP_DEST destination.
If tracing has been enabled for the instance then individual trace files
will be generated for each session, unless otherwise disabled (see above).
Note, that the generated files may be owned by an operating system user
other than your own so you may have to get this user to grant you access
before you can use TKPROF to format them.
Using TKPROF
-----------The TKPROF facility accepts as input an SQL trace file and produces a
formatted output file. Note that TKPROF can be run on individual or
appended trace files to produce the formatted output file.
*

For the full syntax of TKPROF see

Oracle7 Server Tuning Manual.

Invoke TKPROF with no arguments

and online help is displayed.

Syntax of TKPROF
---------------TKPROF command ::=
>>-- TKPROF filename1 filename2
---------------------------------------------->
|

+- SORT = ---------------------------------+
|
|
+-OPTION
--+
|
|
|
+---- , ----+
|
|
V
|
|
|__(
OPTION
)__|
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
|
|
|
|
|
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+-- PRINT = integer --+
+-- INSERT = filname3 --+
+-- SYS = ---------+
|
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+- YES -+
|
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+- NO --+
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
|
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+---------------------------------------- EXPLAIN = user/password ------+
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+---- TABLE = schema.table ----+
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------><
|
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+---- RECORD = filname ----+
The Basics Of TKPROF
-------------------For the purpose of this document we will only describe some of the
fundamental arguments for TKPROF:
*

'filename1'
Specifies the input file, a trace file containing
statistics produced by the SQL trace facility.
This file can be either a trace file produced for a
single session or a file produced by appending together
together individual trace files from multiple sessions.

'filename2'
Specifies the file to which TKPROF writes its
formatted output.

'EXPLAIN'
Determines the execution plan for each SQL statement in
in the trace file and writes these execution plans to
the output file. TKPROF determines execution plans by
issuing the EXPLAIN PLAN command after connecting to
Oracle with the user and password specified in this
parameter. The specified user must have CREATE SESSION
privileges.

'TABLE'

Specifies the schema and name of the table into which

TKPROF temporarily places execution plans before writing
them to the output file. If the specified table already
exists, TKPROF deletes its rows then uses it for the
EXPLAIN PLAN command and then deletes its rows. If this
table does not exist, TKPROF creates, uses, then drops it.
The specified user must be able to issue INSERT, SELECT,
and DELETE statements against the table. If the table does
not already exist, the user must also be able to issue
CREATE TABLE and DROP TABLE statements. This option
allows multiple individuals to run TKPROF concurrently with
the same user in the EXPLAIN value. These individuals can
specify different TABLE values and avoid destructively
interfering with each other's processing on the temporary
plan table. If you use the EXPLAIN parameter without the
TABLE parameter, TKPROF uses the table PROF$PLAN_TABLE in
the schema of the user specified by the EXPLAIN parameter.
If you use the TABLE parameter without the EXPLAIN parameter,
TKPROF ignores the TABLE parameter.
*

'SYS'
Enables and disables the listing of SQL statements issued
by the user SYS, or recursive SQL statements into the
output file. The default value of YES causes TKPROF to
list these statements. The value of NO causes TKPROF to
to omit them.

Simple Example
-------------This example shows TKPROF being run to format a trace file named
"dsdb2_ora_18468.trc" and writing it to a formatted output file
named "dsdb2_trace.out".
TKPROF dsdb2_ora_18468.trc dsdb2_trace.out SYS=NO EXPLAIN=SCOTT/TIGER
Note that if the command is likely to be longer than a single line on your
terminal screen you may have to use continuation characters.
The Parameters In This Example:
------------------------------The EXPLAIN value causes TKPROF to connect as the user SCOTT and use the
EXPLAIN PLAN command to generate the execution plan for each traced SQL
statement. The SYS parameter with the value of NO causes TKPROF to omit
recursive SQL statements from the output file.
Interpretting TKPROF Output
===========================
The EXPLAIN PLAN Command
-----------------------The EXPLAIN PLAN command displays the execution plan chosen by the

Oracle optimizer for SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT, and DELETE statements.

A statement's execution plan is the sequence of operations that Oracle
performs to execute the statement. By examining the execution plan, you
can see exactly how Oracle executes your SQL statement. This information
can help you determine whether the SQL statement you have written takes
advantage of the indexes available. For the syntax of the EXPLAIN PLAN
command, see the Oracle7 Server SQL Reference Manual.
Creating the Output Table
------------------------Before you can issue an EXPLAIN PLAN statement, there must exist a table
to hold its output, you do either of the following:
*

Run the SQL script "UTLXPLAN.SQL" to create a sample

output table called PLAN_TABLE in your schema.

Issue a CREATE TABLE statement to create an output

with any name you choose. You can then issue an
EXPLAIN PLAN statement and direct its output to this
table. Any table used to store the output of the
EXPLAIN PLAN command must have the same column names
and datatypes as the PLAN_TABLE.

SQL Trace Facility Statistics

----------------------------TKPROF lists the statistics for a SQL statement returned by the SQL
trace facility in rows and columns. Each row corresponds to one of
three steps of SQL statement processing:
*

PARSE
This step translates the SQL statement into an execution plan.
This includes checks for proper security authorization and
checks or the existence of tables, columns, and other
referenced objects.

EXECUTE
This step is the actual execution of the statement by Oracle.
For INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements, this step modifies
the data. For SELECT statements, the step identifies the
selected rows.

FETCH
This step retrieves rows returned by a query.
Fetches are only performed for SELECT statements.

The step for which each row contains statistics is identified by the value of
the call column. The other columns of the SQL trace facility output are
combined statistics for all parses, all executes, and all fetches of a
statement:
COUNT
Number of times a statement was parsed, executed, or fetched.

CPU
Total CPU time in seconds for all parse, execute, or fetch calls
for the statement.
ELAPSED
Total elapsed time in seconds for all parse, execute, or fetch calls
for the statement.
DISK
Total number of data blocks physically read from the datafiles on
disk for all parse, execute, or fetch calls.
QUERY
Total number of buffers retrieved in consistent mode for all parse,
execute, or fetch calls. Buffers are usually retrieved in consistent
mode for queries.
CURRENT
Total number of buffers retrieved in current mode. Buffers are often
retrieved in current mode for INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements.
+

The sum of QUERY & CURRENT is he total number of buffers accessed.

ROWS
Total number of rows processed by the SQL statement. This total does
not include rows processed by subqueries of the SQL statement.
For SELECT statements, the number of rows returned appears for the fetch step.
For UPDATE, DELETE, and INSERT statements, the number of rows processed
appears for the execute step.
Example Output (Partial) File
----------------------------TKPROF: Release 7.2.2.3.0 - Production on Wed Aug
Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1979, 1994.

7 11:29:43 1996

All rights reserved.

Trace file: <filename>.trc

Sort options: default
******************************************************************************
**
count
= number of times OCI procedure was executed
cpu
= cpu time in seconds executing
elapsed = elapsed time in seconds executing
disk
= number of physical reads of buffers from disk
query
= number of buffers gotten for consistent read
current = number of buffers gotten in current mode (usually for update)
rows
= number of rows processed by the fetch or execute call
******************************************************************************
**
DELETE FROM RM$HASH_ELMS

call
count
rows
------- --------------Parse
2
0
Execute
29
19
Fetch
0
0
------- --------------total
31
19

cpu

elapsed

disk

query

current

-------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------0.00

0.00

12.04

12.61

6786

6853

108

0.00

0.00

-------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------12.04

12.61

6786

6853

108

Misses in library cache during parse: 0

Optimizer hint: CHOOSE
Parsing user id: 9 (DES12A)
(recursive depth: 3)
Rows
------0
16

Execution Plan
--------------------------------------------------DELETE STATEMENT
HINT: CHOOSE
TABLE ACCESS (FULL) OF 'RM$HASH_ELMS'

*****************************END-OF-EXAMPLEFILE********************************
Resolution of Statistics
-----------------------Since timing statistics have a resolution of one hundredth of a second,
any operation on a cursor that takes a hundredth of a second or less may
not be timed accurately. Keep this in mind when interpreting statistics.
In particular, be careful when interpreting the results from simple queries
that execute very quickly.
Recursive Calls
--------------Sometimes to execute a SQL statement issued by a user, Oracle must issue
additional statements. Such statements are called 'recursive calls' or
'recursive SQL statements'. For example, if you insert a row into a table
that does not have enough space to hold that row, Oracle makes recursive
calls to allocate the space dynamically. Recursive calls are also generated
when data dictionary information is not available in the data dictionary
cache and must be retrieved from disk.
If recursive calls occur while the SQL trace facility is enabled, TKPROF
produces statistics for the recursive SQL statements and clearly marks them
as recursive SQL statements in the output file. Note that the statistics for
a recursive SQL statement are included in the listing for that statement,
not in the listing for the SQL statement that caused the recursive call. So
when you are calculating the total resources required to process a SQL
statement, you should consider the statistics for that statement as well as
those for recursive calls caused by that statement.

Note that setting the TKPROF command line parameter to NO

suppresses the listing of recursive calls in the output in
the output file.

Execution Plan
-------------If you specify the EXPLAIN parameter on the TKPROF command line, TKPROF
uses the EXPLAIN PLAN command to generate the execution plan of each SQL
statement traced. TKPROF also displays the number of rows processed by
each step of the execution plan.
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