SQL Server 7.0 provides SQL Server Query Analyzer, an interactive, graphical tool that allows a database administrator or developer to write queries, execute multiple queries simultaneously, view results, analyze the plan of a query, and receive assistance to improve the performance of a query. The Showplan option graphically displays the data retrieval methods chosen by the SQL Server query optimizer. This is useful for understanding the performance characteristics of a query. In addition, SQL Server Query Analyzer suggests additional indexes and statistics on nonindexed columns that will improve the query optimizer’s ability to process a query efficiently. In particular, SQL Server Query Analyzer shows what statistics are missing, thus forcing the query optimizer to guess about predicate selectivity, and permits the creation of those statistics.