A newer version of this documentation is available. Click here to view the most up-to-date release of the Greenplum 4.x documentation.

Viewing a Graphical Query Plan

Using the pgAdmin III query tool, you can run a query with EXPLAIN to view the details of the query plan. The output includes details about operations unique to Greenplum distributed query processing such as plan slices and motions between segments. You can view a graphical depiction of the plan as well as the text-based data output.

With the correct database highlighted in the object browser in the left pane, select Tools > Query tool.
Enter the query by typing in the SQL Editor, dragging objects into the Graphical Query Builder, or opening a file.

Select Query > Explain options and verify the following options:

Option	Description
Verbose	this must be deselected if you want to view a graphical depiction of the query plan
Analyze	select this option if you want to run the query in addition to viewing the plan

Trigger the operation by clicking the Explain query option at the top of the pane, or by selecting Query > Explain.
The query plan displays in the Output pane at the bottom of the screen. Select the Explain tab to view the graphical output. For example:
Figure 1. Graphical Query Plan in pgAdmin III