Understanding Execution Plan Statistics

Below is the output of an execution plan statistics.
SQL> set autot trace statistics
SQL> select * from tab;

107 rows selected.


Statistics
----------------------------------------------------------
8 recursive calls
0 db block gets
898 consistent gets
0 physical reads
0 redo size
3459 bytes sent via SQL*Net to client
458 bytes received via SQL*Net from client
9 SQL*Net roundtrips to/from client
0 sorts (memory)
0 sorts (disk)
107 rows processed

You sometimes want to know what these fields indicates. Below is the details of these fields.

1)recursive calls: For processing of sql statements oracle database maintain internal tables. Sometimes for processing sql statements change is needed in the internal tables and sometimes not. When Oracle Database needs to make a change to these tables, it internally generates an internal SQL statement, which in turn generates a recursive call.


2)db block gets: Number of times a CURRENT block was requested.

3)consistent gets: Number of times a consistent read was requested for a block. This is called the logical reads indicates for processing of a query how many blocks needs to be accessed.

4)physical reads: Total number of data blocks read from disk. This number equals the value of "physical reads direct" + all reads into buffer cache.

5)redo size: For processing of a query total amount of redo generated in bytes.

6)bytes sent through SQL*Net to client: Total number of bytes sent to the client from the foreground processes.

7)bytes received through SQL*Net from client: Total number of bytes received from the client over Oracle Net.

8)SQL*Net round-trips to/from client: Total number of Oracle Net messages sent to and received from the client.
9)sorts (memory):Number of sort operations that were performed completely in memory and did not require any disk writes.

10)sorts (disk):Number of sort operations that required at least one disk write.

11)rows processed: Number of rows processed during the operation.