Patent ID: 7464071
Filing Date: 2008-12-09
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method for forcing a query execution plan, the method comprising: receiving a suggested execution plan; generating a hint tree that is a structural representation of the suggested execution plan; generating a plurality of execution plans; and performing a guided query optimization in which execution plans that do not match the suggested execution plan are eliminated as candidates such that the guided query optimization generates a resulting execution plan that matches the suggested execution plan or a determination that the suggested execution plan is invalid, guided query optimization comprising (a) setting a parent node to be a root node of an execution plan tree; (b) generating a possible set of child nodes of the parent node; (c) comparing the possible set of child nodes to a corresponding set of child nodes in the hint tree, and (d) if the possible set of child nodes does not match the corresponding set of child nodes in the hint tree, then: (e) if the set of possible child nodes matches the corresponding set of child nodes in the hint tree, then: