showplan is often used in conjunction with set noexec on, which prevents SQL statements from being executed. Issue showplan, or any other set commands, before you issue the noexec command. Once you issue set noexec on, the only command that Adaptive Server executes is set noexec off. This example shows the correct order:
set showplan on
set noexec on
go
select au_lname, au_fname
from authors
where au_id = "A137406537"
go
