hi,

i'm using SQL Server 2000 (SP3, I think).

i am looking at SQL for finding documents (table DOC) based on a couple of
criteria, one of which involves a fulltext index on a related table (TXT).

i discovered today that a less selective CONTAINS() clause:
   CONTAINS (txt_stripped, 'daimler')
results in disastrous performance when I ask for the "top 10" documents
sorted by published date (a field of DOC) descending.

if I
1) include a more selective contains clause:
 CONTAINS (txt_stripped, 'daimler AND mercedes')
2) omit the "top 10" (there are only125 documents total.) or
3) omit the "ORDER BY  doc_pubfrom DESC" clause
the query performs fine.

i examined the query plans and discovered that in the bad case the first
thing done is to walk the doc_pubfrom index (figures, I guess: top 10 order
by...). in the other cases the first thing done is the "remote scan" of the
fulltext index, which is what I want done first.

i already know how I'll solve this problem: i don't need the "top 10" at
this point -- it was just a whim while prototyping.

my questions, though for future reference:
1) is there syntax to influence SQL's query planning specifically to prefer
the full text index ?
2) is there a way to get the query plan textually? (the graphic view is
great but I wondered what I would do if I wanted to mail it or post it)

cheers,

Tim Hanson