Query timeout increased but script fails to execute - sql

Question

When i execute this script on my remote database it gives me query timeout error. I've increased the timeout on my database but still have this error. I've been told if i'm able to optimized the script to make it simple it might work.
SELECT TOP 8 MIN( CASE WHEN pic_alb_love.pic=users_pics.pic
AND pic_alb_love.email = 'try#mail.com' THEN 'User' ELSE 'Guest' END)AS answer_one,
MIN ( CASE WHEN favorites.pic=users_pics.pic AND favorites.email = 'try#mail.com' THEN 'good' ELSE 'Bad'
END)AS answer2,
(CASE WHEN RTRIM (users_pics.upload_type) = 'wow' THEN 'loaded' ELSE
CASE WHEN RTRIM (users_pics.upload_type)= 'hey' THEN 'added' ELSE
CASE WHEN RTRIM (users_pics.upload_type) = 'check' THEN 'Changed' END END END)as up_ans,
(CASE WHEN RTRIM (users_pics.upload_type) = 'sample1' THEN 'new' ELSE
CASE WHEN RTRIM (users_pics.upload_type) = 'sample2' THEN 'existing' ELSE
CASE WHEN RTRIM (users_pics.upload_type) = 'sample3' THEN 'Profile Picture' END END END) as exs,
COUNT(DISTINCT users_pics.pic) as total,RTRIM (users_pics.wardrobe) as wardrobe,
fname,users_pics.wardrobe,
MIN (make)as make,MIN (htags)as htags, RTRIM (profile.profile_id) as profile_id,
users_pics.email,profile.profile_pix, RTRIM (profile.gender) as gender,
users_pics.time_group,profile.fpage,up_user_id, MIN (u_pic_id) as u_pic_id, MIN (users_pics.pic) as pic
FROM users_pics
LEFT join profile on users_pics.email = profile.email
LEFT join favorites on users_pics.pic = favorites.pic
LEFT JOIN pic_alb_love on users_pics.pic = pic_alb_love.pic
left join friends on users_pics.email = friends.resp_email
WHERE req_email = 'try#mail.com' and pic_enable='enable' or pic_view='Public'
GROUP BY users_pics.upload_type,profile.fname,profile.profile_id,users_pics.wardrobe,
users_pics.email, profile.gender,users_pics.time_group,profile.profile_pix, profile.fpage,up_user_id
ORDER BY MIN (users_pics.u_pic_id) DESC

Answer 1

Increasing timeout can help, but you should also check if your query isn't blocked by others operations like INSERT/UPDATE or open transaction.
The easiest way is to install and use sp_whoisactive procedure.
Second you don't need to nest CASE like you did:
(CASE WHEN RTRIM (users_pics.upload_type) = 'wow' THEN 'loaded' ELSE
CASE WHEN RTRIM (users_pics.upload_type)= 'hey' THEN 'added' ELSE
CASE WHEN RTRIM (users_pics.upload_type) = 'check' THEN 'Changed' END END END)as up_ans,
to
CASE RTRIM (user_pics.upload_type)
WHEN 'wow' THEN 'loaded'
WHEN 'hey' THEN 'added'
WHEN 'check' THEN 'changed'
ELSE NULL /* or your value like 'unknown' */
END AS up_ans
Next thing: you RTRIM almost on every string value, you should sanitize your input during inserting, unless you need spaces/tabs/newline and so on.
This way your query won't need RTRIM and can utilize index if exists any.
/* New values */
INSERT INTO table_name(...) VALUES (LTRIM(RTRIM(value...)))
/* Existing ones */
UPDATE table_name
SET col = LTRIM(RTRIM(col))
SQL Parser will understand wall of text, human will need time to do it.
I know we can argue about code style but remember you write code for people. Good readable code allow you to spot errors earlier and it is a hell easier to maintain in the future for you and your successors:
1) One selected value one line
2) The same order in SELECT and GROUP BY
3) Aggregated columns at end
4) You can use aliases no need for fully qualified names
5) No ambiguous column names, always specify from which table
6) SQL syntax UPPER CASE
7) Allign your code
Your query in more human readable from:
SELECT TOP 8
[up_user_id] /* Always add from which table even if it is unique column name, because in future you may get ambigous column */
,[fname]
,[profile_id] = RTRIM(profile.profile_id)
,[up_ans] = CASE RTRIM(users_pics.upload_type)
WHEN 'wow' THEN 'loaded'
WHEN 'hey' THEN 'added'
WHEN 'check' THEN 'changed'
ELSE NULL
END
,[exs] = CASE RTRIM(users_pics.upload_type)
WHEN 'sample1' THEN 'new'
WHEN 'sample2' THEN 'existing'
WHEN 'sample3' THEN 'Profile Picture'
ELSE NULL
END
,[wardrobe] = RTRIM(users_pics.wardrobe)
,users_pics.email
,[gender] = RTRIM(profile.gender)
,users_pics.time_group
,profile.profile_pix
,profile.fpage
,[answer_one] = MIN(CASE
WHEN pic_alb_love.pic=users_pics.pic THEN 'User'
ELSE 'Guest'
END)
,[answer2] = MIN(CASE
WHEN favorites.pic = users_pics.pic AND favorites.email = 'try#mail.com' WHEN 'good'
ELSE 'Bad'
END)
,[total] = COUNT(DISTINCT users_pics.pic)
,[make] = MIN(make)
,[htags] = MIN(htags)
,[u_pic_id] = MIN(u_pic_id)
,[pic] = MIN(users_pics.pic)
FROM users_pics /* you can use alias like AS up */
LEFT JOIN profile
ON users_pics.email = profile.email
LEFT JOIN favorites
ON users_pics.pic = favorites.pic
LEFT JOIN pic_alb_love
ON users_pics.pic = pic_alb_love.pic
LEFT JOIN friends
ON users_pics.email = friends.resp_email
WHERE
req_email = 'try#mail.com'
AND pic_enable = 'enable'
OR pic_view = 'Public'
GROUP BY
up_user_id
,profile.fname
,profile.profile_id
,users_pics.upload_type
,users_pics.wardrobe
,users_pics.email
,profile.gender
,users_pics.time_group
,profile.profile_pix
,profile.fpage
ORDER BY MIN(users_pics.u_pic_id) DESC
After you check that your query is not blocked during selecting data you can think about:
checking indexes on your tables
add WHERE condition to fetch smaller set, maybe you can use some update_date > current_date - 2 weeks
think to optimize query because now it does grouping and ordering which needs time to complete.
your WHERE condition, are you sure it shouldn't be:
.
WHERE (req_email = 'try#mail.com'
AND pic_enable = 'enable')
OR pic_view = 'Public'