How to find Expr#### in Execution Plan
performance, sql, sql-server, sql-server-2005, t-sql
Solution
In the `Execution Plan` window of `SSMS`, right click on the operation that first calculates the expression and select `Properties`.
You will see the expression definition in the pane to the right.
Alternatively, you can browse the `XML` plan and search for the entries like that:
<DefinedValues>
<DefinedValue>
<ColumnReference Column="Expr1018" />
<ScalarOperator ScalarString="col1 + col2">
</ScalarOperator>
</DefinedValue>
…
</DefinedValues>
Problem
When looking at the actual execution plan for a query in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), how do I determine what an expression such as Expr1052 represents? When I identify the costly parts of the query and look at the properties of that operation, there are often references only to these Expressions, or scalar operators. I want to be able to figure out what part of my query it is referring to.