Troubleshooting Guide

DB2 Index Advisor

The DB2 Index Advisor is a tool to assist you in choosing an optimal set of indices for your table data. There are different ways to get to this tool:

• You can access this tool through the Control Center by selecting the Indexes folder, clicking mouse button 2, and selecting Create -> Index using SmartGuide.
• You can access this tool from the command line by entering db2advis.
• You can use self-directed methods involving the EXPLAIN modes and PREP options.
• You can use the Call Level Interface (CLI) when writing applications.

The Index SmartGuide is the recommended method to use because it is simple, straight-forward, and easy to use. It provides a visual interface for accessing the Advise Facility.

You can use the Index Advisor to evaluate current indexes or to recommend indexes to use for a particular set of SQL statements processed over a given period of time.

See the "SQL Advise Facility" section in the "SQL Explain Facility" chapter of the Administration Guide: Implementation manual for more information on how to use the Index Advisor.