How to use index in select statement?

sql database indexing

Vivek · Jul 6, 2011 · Viewed 383.6k times · Source

Lets say in the employee table, I have created an index(idx_name) on the emp_name column of the table.

Do I need to explicitly specify the index name in select clause or it will automatically used to speed up queries.

If it is required to be specified in the select clause, What is the syntax for using index in select query ?

Answer

If you want to test the index to see if it works, here is the syntax:

SELECT *
FROM Table WITH(INDEX(Index_Name))

The WITH statement will force the index to be used.