• Article

Rebuild Index Task (Maintenance Plan)

Use the Rebuild Index Task dialog to re-create the indexes on the tables in the database with a new fill factor. The fill factor determines the amount of empty space on each page in the index, to accommodate future expansion. As data is added to the table, the free space fills because the fill factor is not maintained. Reorganizing data and index pages can re-establish the free space.

The Rebuild Index Task uses the ALTER INDEX statement when connected to SQL Server 2005 or higher, and the DBCC DBREINDEX statement when connected to SQL Server 2000.

Options

  • Connection
    Select the server connection to use when performing this task.

  • New
    Create a new server connection to use when performing this task. The New Connection dialog box is described below.

  • Databases
    Specify the databases affected by this task.

    • All databases

      Generate a maintenance plan that runs maintenance tasks against all SQL Server databases except tempdb.

    • All system databases

      Generate a maintenance plan that runs maintenance tasks against each of the SQL Server system databases except tempdb. No maintenance tasks are run against user-created databases.

    • All user databases

      Generate a maintenance plan that runs maintenance tasks against all user-created databases. No maintenance tasks are run against the SQL Server system databases.

    • These specific databases

      Generate a maintenance plan that runs maintenance tasks against only those databases that are selected. At least one database in the list must be selected if this option is chosen.

      Note

      Maintenance plans only run against databases set to compatibility level 80 or higher. Databases set to compatibility level 70 or lower are not displayed.

  • Object
    Limit the Selection grid to display tables, views, or both.

  • Selection
    Specify the tables or indexes affected by this task. Not available when Tables and Views is selected in the Object box.

  • Reorganize pages with the default amount of free space
    Drop the indexes on the tables in the database and re-create them with the fill factor that was specified when the indexes were created.

  • Change free space per page percentage to
    Drop the indexes on the tables in the database and re-create them with a new, automatically calculated fill factor, thereby reserving the specified amount of free space on the index pages. The higher the percentage, the more free space is reserved on the index pages, and the larger the index grows. Valid values are from 0 through 100.

  • Sort results in tempdb
    Use the SORT_IN_TEMPDBoption, which determines where the intermediate sort results, generated during index creation, are temporarily stored. If a sort operation is not required, or if the sort can be performed in memory, the SORT_IN_TEMPDBoption is ignored. This option is not performed against SQL Server 2000 databases.

  • Keep index online while reindexing
    Use the ONLINE option which allows users to access the underlying table or clustered index data and any associated nonclustered indexes during index operations. This option is not performed against SQL Server 2000 databases.

    Note

    Online index operations are available only in SQL Server Developer, Evaluation, and Enterprise editions.

  • View T-SQL
    View the Transact-SQL statements performed against the server for this task, based on the selected options.

    Note

    When the number of objects affected is large, this display can take a considerable amount of time.

New Connection Dialog Box

  • Connection name
    Enter a name for the new connection.

  • Select or enter a server name
    Select a server to connect to when performing this task.

  • Refresh
    Refresh the list of available servers.

  • Enter information to log on to the server
    Specify how to authenticate against the server.

  • Use Windows integrated security
    Connect to an instance of the SQL Server Database Engine with Windows Authentication.

  • Use a specific user name and password
    Connect to an instance of the SQL Server Database Engine using SQL Server Authentication. This option is not available.

  • User name
    Provide a SQL Server login to use when authenticating. This option is not available.

  • Password
    Provide a password to use when authenticating. This option is not available.