Hints

Note

This token has been deprecated but is still supported for backward compatibility. It is recommended to use the Optimize_Scheme token instead.

Purpose

Provides SQL optimization hints to be passed to the database backend. This token allows advanced users to influence query plans, index usage, or other backend-specific optimizations for performance tuning.

Parameters

String value SQL hint syntax

Default

Empty string if not specified.

Example

Using the STAFF table from the movie rental database. To force all finds to use the STAFF-I03 index (LAST_NAME, FIRST_NAME, ID), the STAFF_MKD.int file would have the following HINTS entry:

CREATED Thu Jul 31 09:16:51 2025 by SQLBTR 7.0.10583.0
DRIVER_NAME SQL_BTR
PERMANENT_INT NO
SERVER_NAME WIN11DEV\MDSEXPRESS
DATABASE_SPACE_NAME MovieRental
TABLE_NAME STAFF
SCHEMA_NAME Store1
HINTS (WITH (INDEX="STAFF-I03"))
FILEGROUP_TABLE
FILEGROUP_INDEX
FILEGROUP_TEXT
LOGICAL_RECORD_LENGTH 475
PAGE_SIZE 4096
FILE_FLAGS 512
FILE_DDF_FLAGS 0
MAX_ROWS_TO_QUERY 100
LOCAL_CACHE YES
NUMBER_DF_FIELDS 11
PRIMARY_INDEX 1
TRANSLATE_OEM_TO_ANSI 0
IGNORE_NULL_VALUES 1
TRIM_STRING_FIELDS 1
USE_SQL_LOBS 0

Detailed Description

  • Use this token only if you are familiar with the hint syntax of your target database. Incorrect or unsupported hints may be ignored or cause SQL warnings.

  • Best Practice: Test thoroughly before deploying hints in production. Hints can improve performance but may also cause unexpected query plans if used incorrectly.