Hi folks! A query I am running does not seem to use indexes that are available (running version 7.4.2). I have the following table: => \d replicated Table "public.replicated" Column | Type | Modifiers -----------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------------- rep_id | bigint | not null default nextval('replicated_id_seq'::text) rep_component | character varying(100) | rep_key1 | integer | rep_key2 | bigint | rep_key3 | smallint | rep_replicated | timestamp with time zone | rep_remotekey1 | integer | rep_remotekey2 | bigint | rep_remotekey3 | smallint | rep_key2b | bigint | rep_remotekey2b | bigint | rep_key4 | text | Indexes: "replicated_pkey" primary key, btree (rep_id) "replicate_key1_idx" btree (rep_key1, rep_key2, rep_key3) "replicated_item2_idx" btree (rep_component, rep_key2, rep_key3) "replicated_item_idx" btree (rep_component, rep_key1, rep_key2, rep_key3) "replicated_key2_idx" btree (rep_key2, rep_key3) "replicated_key4_idx" btree (rep_key4) => analyze verbose replicated; INFO: analyzing "public.replicated" INFO: "replicated": 362140 pages, 30000 rows sampled, 45953418 estimated total rows ANALYZE The following does not use an index, even though two are available for the specific selection of rep_component. => explain analyze select * from replicated where rep_component = 'ps_probe' limit 1; QUERY PLAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Limit (cost=0.00..0.23 rows=1 width=101) (actual time=34401.857..34401.859 rows=1 loops=1) -> Seq Scan on replicated (cost=0.00..936557.70 rows=4114363 width=101) (actual time=34401.849..34401.849 rows=1 loops=1) Filter: ((rep_component)::text = 'ps_probe'::text) Total runtime: 34401.925 ms (4 rows) Yet, if I do the following, an index will be used, and it runs much faster (even when I swapped the order of the execution). => explain analyze select * from replicated where rep_component = 'ps_probe' order by rep_component limit 1; QUERY PLAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Limit (cost=0.00..1.66 rows=1 width=101) (actual time=51.163..51.165 rows=1 loops=1) -> Index Scan using replicated_item2_idx on replicated (cost=0.00..6838123.76 rows=4114363 width=101) (actual time=51.157..51.157 rows=1 loops=1) Index Cond: ((rep_component)::text = 'ps_probe'::text) Total runtime: 51.265 ms (4 rows) Any reason why the index is not chosen? Maybe I need to up the number of rows sampled for statistics? Regards! Ed ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 2: you can get off all lists at once with the unregister command (send "unregister YourEmailAddressHere" to majordomo@postgresql.org)