The following are the primary features and information about the different tabs found within Plan Explorer. Since the graphical plan diagram in SSMS was used as a starting point for the design of Plan Explorer, some features are compared with the current capabilities of SSMS to illustrate the reasoning behind the feature.
Plan Explorer Menus
File Menu
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| New | Creates a new Plan Explorer Session in a new tab. |
| Open | Opens an existing Execution Plan file (.sqlplan | .xml | .queryanalysis | .pesession), deadlock file, or SQL file. |
| Save | Saves the current file. |
| Save As | Saves the current file with a new name/new location. |
| Save All | Saves all files opened in any tabbed sessions. |
| Recent Files > | Displays a list of recently opened files. |
| Exit | Exits the program. |
View Menu
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Plan History | Opens the Plan History pane. |
| Comments | Opens the Comments pane. |
| Start Page | Opens the Start Page pane. |
| Plan Layout Control | Opens the Layout Editor. Use the Layout Editor to customize the position of the various panes. |
Tools Menu
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| User Preferences | Allows you to edit the user preferences. |
| Edit Connection | Allows you to edit the server connection. |
| Anonymize Plan | Allows you to anonymize a .sqlplan. |
Window Menu
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Float | Allows the selected panel to detach from the main window rather than being docked. Note: This can also be done by dragging the panel by its titlebar. |
| Close All Documents | Closes all open query plans. |
| Reset Window Layout | Resets the windows to the default state. |
| New Horizontal Tab Group | Creates a new Horizontal tab group with the selected tab. |
| New Vertical Tab Group | Creates a new Vertical tab group with the selected tab. |
| Move to Next Tab Group | Moves the selected tab group to the next group. |
| Move to Previous Tab Group | Moves the selected tab group to the previous group. |
| 1 Plan | Opens the desired query plan. |
| Windows... | Uses the Windows command to manage all your open windows. Uses the Activate command to set focus to the selected window. |
Help Menu
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Plan Explorer Help | Opens to Plan Explorer in the SQL Sentry User Guide. |
| Check for Updates | Checks for the newest version of Plan Explorer. |
| About | Views information about Plan Explorer, including build number and contact information. |
| End User License Agreement | Opens the www.solarwinds.com/legal/eula article about licensing information. |
Toolbar
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
 | New—Creates a new Plan Explorer Session in a tab. |
 | Open—Opens an existing Session file, Execution Plan, Deadlock, or SQL file, |
 | Save—Saves the current file. |
 | Save All—Saves all the currently open files. |
 | Copy—Copies the selected text to the clipboard. |
 | Paste—Pastes the selected text from the clipboard. |
 | Comment selected lines — Makes the selected line(s) a comment. |
 | Uncomment selected lines — Removes the comment tab from the selected line(s). |
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
 | Edits the current connection information. |
 | Generates an Estimated Plan. (Shortcut Key: CTRL-L) |
 | Generates an Actual Plan. (Shortcut Key: F5 or CTRL-E) Select the With Live Query Profile option from the drop-down list. A usage chart appears that plots CPU, I/O and waits. Note: Disable the Query Execution warning message with User Preferences (Tools > User Preferences > Warn on actual execution). |
 | Stops the execution of a query. |
 | Toggles the Plan Diagram tab between the Estimated and Actual Plan. |
 | Horizontal Layout—Switches the current tab to a horizontal layout. |
 | Vertical Layout—Switches the current tab to a vertical layout. |
Command Text
The Command Text section shows an editable version of the query text for the statement or batch being analyzed. Make changes to the query, then see how this impacts the execution plan by selecting Get Estimated Plan or Get Actual Plan on the toolbar.
When retrieving a plan, you're asked for the server, database, and credentials to connect (unless you launched Plan Explorer from within SSMS using our Management Studio Add-In).
To generate the Actual Plan, the query is run against the target server. By design, the actual query results aren't returned to the Plan Explorer interface. By default, there's a message box explaining this behavior when an Actual Plan is captured.
Note: Disable the Query Execution warning message with User Preferences (Tools > User Preferences > Warn on actual execution).
If query execution fails, a message displays in the Status bar, located at the bottom of the Plan Explorer window.
