Using the Jet ShowPlan Manager – Version 2.

4
1. Introduction
The Jet ShowPlan feature is used to view the execution plan of Access queries and SQL statements.

The query execution plan is a set of instructions to the database engine that tell it how to execute a query.
As a simple example, consider a query that retrieves all customers located in the UK.
One way to do this would be to examine every record and select the ones where the Country field equals UK.
But if there's an index on that field, a more efficient way to perform the same query would probably be to
examine the index, and then jump straight to the records from UK.

The following information is taken from an excellent article by Susan Haskins written in 2003:
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/use-microsoft-jets-showplan-to-write-more-efficient-queries/

Jet creates this plan each time you compile the query – for example the first time you run it, when you save a
change to the query, or when you compact the database. Jet uses this plan behind the scenes to determine
the quickest way to go about executing the query. Once the plan exists, Jet simply refers to the plan to run the
query instead of re-evaluating the query each time you run it. One easy way to optimize a query is to compact
the database if you make several changes to the data or add a lot of new data. Doing so will force a re-
evaluation of the query plan. What works best for ten rows might not be the best plan for 10,000 records. The
plan contains information on the following components:
• WHERE or HAVING clauses
• ORDER BY clause
• Joins
• Indexes
• Table stats

Additional information bringing this article up to date is contained in another article Show Plan – Run Faster
on my website : http://www.mendipdatasystems.co.uk/show-plan-go-faster/4594460516

In order to use the JET ShowPlan feature, you first need to setup the feature in the registry. To do this
requires knowledge of the correct locations for several registry keys, some of which are version dependant.

The JET ShowPlan Manager application is designed to make this process as simple as possible

2. Using the application

In order to setup the JET ShowPlan feature, Access MUST be run as an administrator.

To do so, right click on the Access shortcut in the start menu or desktop and click Run As Administrator.
If this option isn’t available (e.g. Access 2010), hold the shift key down as you right click the shortcut

Access versions prior to 2007 cannot be run as an administrator so no MDB version is available for this utility

When the application first opens, it will collect information about the version of Windows and access being
used. It will also determine whether these are 32-bit or 64-bit and whether a copy of Office 365 is installed.

This information is needed to determine the correct registry path needed for the JETSHOWPLAN string value

This process will take a few seconds and the result will look similar to one of the screenshots below:

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 Figure 1 Figure 2

If the application was not being run as an administrator, the screen would look like Figure 2 with parts of
the screen disabled. If so, close and reopen using the run as administrator option

In the examples shown above, a 32-bit version of Access 365 is being run on 32-bit Windows

The correct registry key in this case for the JETSHOWPLAN string is:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access
Connectivity Engine\Engines\Debug\JETSHOWPLAN

The registry path depends on the Windows ‘bit-ness’, the Access version and bit-ness and whether or not it is
an Access 365 installation. For further details on the various paths, see section 3: How the application works

The registry key is not created automatically when Access is installed.

Click the Create JETSHOWPLAN Key button to do so.
After a couple of seconds, the screen will be updated with the JETSHOWPLAN key value is set to OFF

The button caption has changed to Set JETSHOWPLAN = ON.

Click the button again to enable the feature.

Whilst the JETSHOWPLAN value = ON, the execution plan of every query or SQL statement used by this
version of Access will be saved to a plain text file showplan.out in the default database directory.

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 For example:

The same file is used each time so it can over time become very large indeed.
In addition, the time needed to complete queries increases by around 14% when the feature is ON
It is therefore strongly recommended that JETSHOWPLAN is switched OFF when it isn’t required.

To view an example showplan.out file, click the View Example ShowPlan button.
This will check the default database directory in the registry, associate .out files with Notepad, run a simple
query qryComputerInfo and then open the showplan.out file in Notepad

When Access is installed, the default database directory is usually set as C:\Users\UserName\Documents
OR if you are using a Microsoft account it may be set as C:\Users\UserName\OneDrive\Documents

NOTE:
It is STRONGLY recommended that OneDrive is NOT used as the default directory. As that requires an online
connection, any interruptions to that connection can cause corruption leading to loss of data and/or an
unusable database

Unfortunately, the default database directory is only stored in the registry if it is changed!
In order to view the show plan file, the application will next add the default database directory key & value
to the registry if it doesn’t already exist. If so, a message box similar to this will appear:

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 Clicking YES, will set the default to your My Documents area e.g. C:\Users\cridd\Documents.
If that location isn’t correct, click NO instead. A Browse folder dialog will appear.

Browse to and select the folder required then click OK.

The new default folder will be implemented next time Access is opened.
If you have changed the default folder, this will affect all new databases created from now on.

Restart the application – remember to use Run As Administrator

Click the View Example ShowPlan button again. This will run a simple query and open the showplan.out file
which was saved in your default database directory.

NOTE: If you still have OneDrive as your default directory, the showplan.out file will be created and may
flash briefly but then close. Another good reason not to use this online folder area!

You can now use the JET ShowPlan feature to assist with optimising queries and SQL statements
Do remember to switch this feature OFF in the registry when not required for query optimisation

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3. How the Application Works

a) Various functions (in the module modSysInfo) are used to identify the Windows & Access
versions/bitnesses:
• Windows – GetOperatingSystem / IsWin32OrWin64
• Access – GetAccessVersion / GetAccessEXEVersion / IsOfficex64
The results are stored in the table tblComputerInfo

If the application is reopened on a new workstation or using a different version of Access, this data is
automatically deleted and the table repopulated.

b) Checking whether Office 365 is installed is more difficult.

However, it is necessary to do so in order to use the Jet ShowPlan feature.
As Microsoft uses the same version numbers for both retail Office and the Office 365 subscription model,
the approach used is to check the registry.
The code to do this is in the CheckAccess365 function (in modFunctions).

It is partly because this function needs to read from the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM) registry hive that
the application MUST be run as an administrator.

All retail versions of Access from 2007 onwards include a registry key similar to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines
The part in bold is the Access version number

For 32-bit Access on 64-bit Windows, this changes to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity
Engine\Engines

In each case, the Engines key contains a string SystemDB with value system.mdb
However, for Office 365 installations, a ClickToRun registry structure is used instead.

For 32-bit Windows, only 32-bit Access can be installed. The function will check for the existence of the
registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\Micros
oft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines

For 64-bit Access in 64-bit Windows, the same registry key is used as above

However, for 32-bit Access 365 on 64-bit Windows, this changes to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\
Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines

So, if one of the above keys is found, Office 365 is installed.

However, it is not that ‘simple’. If a retail version of Office 2013/2016/2019 is installed but the user
enters their Microsoft account information either during installation or at a later time, this triggers the
ClickToRun registry structure to be created!

In other words, it is then treated as Office 365 even though it is still a retail product.
However, the software is not updated with new features as is the case with a true Office 365 product

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 Furthermore, in such cases, a slightly different registry structure MAY also be created such as:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.0\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\
Microsoft\Office\15.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines
or
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\
Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines

As a result, the code looks for any of those key structures to determine whether Office 365 is installed.
Why Microsoft decided to make this so very difficult is hard to understand!

c) Once the correct registry key for the SystemDB string value has been determined, this is stored in the
table tblComputerInfo. It is then used to create a new Debug key in the Engines ‘folder’ with a string
value JETSHOWPLAN and a data value OFF or ON.

d) The default database directory string value is stored in the registry folder similar to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Access\Settings
The part in bold is the Access version number
The path is NOT dependant on whether Access is a retail version or a 365 subscription

e) The default application used for the showplan.out file type is not specified automatically.
As it is a plain text file, the application associates the .out file type with Notepad.
It does this by writing new keys in these sections of the registry hives HKCR & HKCU:
• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.out
• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\. OUT file
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
FileExts\.out\Application
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
FileExts\.out\OpenWithList

I have explained the registry paths in some detail as the same ideas could, in principle, be used to modify
other features of Access using appropriate registry keys.

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4. Reading the registry Wow6432Node
When using 32-bit applications in 64-bit Windows, registry entries are made to the Wow6432Node.
Windows uses a process called registry redirection to manage this area but that causes issues when trying to
view those entries from a 32-bit application such as Access
This area cannot be read from or written to using standard code as used on ’pure’ 32-bit or 64-bit systems.
Instead, I have used ‘special’ code which is elevated to 64-bit as and when required

Public Function GetStdRegProv() As Object

' http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394600(VS.85).aspx
'code updated by Jeff Holm to manage mixed mode systems

On Error GoTo ErrHandler:

Dim strComputer As String

strComputer = "."

If IsWin32OrWin64 = IsOfficex64 Then 'Office & Windows bitness match, no need to force 64-bit

Set GetStdRegProv = GetObject("winmgmts:" _

& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" _
& strComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv")

Else 'Office 32-bit & Windows 64-bit, so have to elevate GetStdRegProv to 64-bit

Dim objCtx As Object

Dim objLocator As Object
Dim objServices As Object
Dim objStdRegProv As Object

Set objCtx = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemNamedValueSet")

objCtx.Add "__ProviderArchitecture", 64
objCtx.Add "__RequiredArchitecture", True
Set objLocator = CreateObject("Wbemscripting.SWbemLocator")
Set objServices = objLocator.ConnectServer(strComputer, "root\default", "", "", , , , objCtx)
Set GetStdRegProv = objServices.Get("StdRegProv")

Set objServices = Nothing

Set objLocator = Nothing
Set objCtx = Nothing
End If

Exit_ErrHandler:
On Error Resume Next
Exit Function

ErrHandler:
If Err.Number >= 0 Then
MsgBox "Error " & Err.Number & " in GetStdRegProv procedure: " & Err.description, vbOKOnly +
vbCritical
End If
Resume Exit_ErrHandler

End Function

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5. Acknowledgments
I am extremely grateful to Utter Access forum member Jeff Holm for repeatedly testing different versions of
this application in mixed 32/64 bit systems. Also for making several valuable suggestions and providing code
snippets used for solving issues with registry keys using the Wow6432Node without having to deal with the
complexities of registry redirection.

Also, thanks are due to Tom Stiphout, Dev Ashish and Daniel Pineault for various items of standard code used
in this application’

I would be grateful for any feedback related to this application.

To do so, please email me at: [email protected].
Alternatively, use the contact page on my website: http://www.mendipdatasystems.co.uk

Colin Riddington Mendip Data Systems

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