Help required with query (join) optimization I am working with a fact table source query and I have observed that performance of the query is pathetic. It has increased from 1:00 min to 6:30 min by just using a function in the select clause which converts the date format. It only has 7 tables joined on simple On condition (No crazy stuff).

Going forward I need to add couple of more tables to the join list. This will only make the performance way worse. I need to fine tune the current query before I starting adding to it. 

Here is the query:

 SELECT [dbo].[dFK](oew.StartDate) AS StartDate, -- INTEGER DATE!
    [dbo].[dFK](oew.EndDate) AS EndDate,
    [dbo].[dFK](oew.EffectiveDate) AS EffectiveDate
FROM    OpenEnrollmentWindow oew
    INNER JOIN ProductYear py ON oew.OrganizationProductYearID = py.ID
    INNER JOIN Marketplace m ON py.MarketplaceID = m.ID
    INNER JOIN Organization o ON m.OrganizationID = o.ID
    INNER JOIN Consumer c ON c.OrganizationID = o.ID
    LEFT JOIN OpenEnrollmentWindowProduct oewp ON oew.ID = oewp.OrganizationOpenEnrollmentWindowID
    LEFT JOIN OpenEnrollmentWindowProductType oewpt ON oew.ID = oewpt.OrganizationOpenEnrollmentWindowID




Here is the definition of the function:

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[dFK]
(@dt as sql_variant)
RETURNS int
AS
BEGIN
    DECLARE @type varchar(128)  
    DECLARE @iDate int
    SET @type = CONVERT(varchar(128), SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(@dt, 'BaseType'))
    SET @iDate =
        CASE 
            WHEN @type = 'int' AND @dt &gt;= 19000101 AND @dt &lt;= 20451231 THEN CONVERT(int, @dt)
            WHEN @type = 'int' AND @dt &lt; 19000101 OR @type = 'int' AND @dt &gt; 20451231 THEN 1
            WHEN @dt IS NULL THEN 1
            WHEN (@dt &lt; CAST('1900-01-01 00:00:00.000' AS DATETIME) OR @dt &gt; CAST('2045-12-31 11:59:59.000' AS DATETIME)) AND @type = 'datetime' THEN 1
            WHEN (@dt &lt; CAST('1900-01-01' AS DATE) OR @dt &gt; CAST('2045-12-31' AS DATE)) AND @type = 'date' THEN 1
            ELSE FORMAT(CAST(@dt AS DATETIME2), 'yyyyMMdd')
        END
    RETURN @iDate
END

GO


This is used as a fact table source. The date is converted to avoid a reverse lookup against date dimension. Let's just say it has to be converted at server side only. It is spitting out some 6 million rows. Now I do understand that's quite a lot, and that's why I am seeking some query optimization suggestions here.
The problem is the use of scalar functions. These are executed once per reference per row, and the current internal implementation is such that this is very nearly as expensive as running a separate query per invocation (18 million times, for 6 million rows with three function references per row).

A quick solution is to convert the function to an in-line table-valued function. These are in-lined into the query text, much in the same way views are expanded before query optimization. So the first step is to translate the function to:

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.dFK_InLine
    (@dt as sql_variant)
RETURNS table
AS
RETURN
    SELECT
        ReturnValue =
        CASE 
            WHEN CA.datatype = 'int' 
                AND @dt &gt;= 19000101 AND @dt &lt;= 20451231
                THEN CONVERT(integer, @dt)
            WHEN (CA.datatype = 'int' AND @dt &lt; 19000101) 
                OR (CA.datatype = 'int' AND @dt &gt; 20451231)
                THEN 1
            WHEN @dt IS NULL 
            THEN 1
            WHEN (@dt &lt; CAST('1900-01-01 00:00:00.000' AS DATETIME) 
                OR @dt &gt; CAST('2045-12-31 11:59:59.000' AS DATETIME)) 
                AND CA.datatype = 'datetime' 
            THEN 1
            WHEN (@dt &lt; CAST('1900-01-01' AS DATE) 
                OR @dt &gt; CAST('2045-12-31' AS DATE)) 
                AND CA.datatype = 'date' 
            THEN 1
            ELSE FORMAT(CAST(@dt AS DATETIME2), 'yyyyMMdd')
        END
    FROM
    (
        VALUES
        (
            CONVERT(varchar(128), SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(@dt, 'BaseType'))
        )
    ) AS CA (datatype);


Then modify the source query to use it:

SELECT 
    SD.ReturnValue AS StartDate, -- INTEGER DATE!
    ED.ReturnValue AS EndDate,
    EFD.ReturnValue AS EffectiveDate
FROM OpenEnrollmentWindow oew
CROSS APPLY dbo.dFK_InLine(oew.StartDate) AS SD
CROSS APPLY dbo.dFK_InLine(oew.EndDate) AS ED
CROSS APPLY dbo.dFK_InLine(oew.EffectiveDate) AS EFD
INNER JOIN ProductYear py 
    ON oew.OrganizationProductYearID = py.ID
INNER JOIN Marketplace m 
    ON py.MarketplaceID = m.ID
INNER JOIN Organization o 
    ON m.OrganizationID = o.ID
INNER JOIN Consumer c 
    ON c.OrganizationID = o.ID
LEFT JOIN OpenEnrollmentWindowProduct oewp 
    ON oew.ID = oewp.OrganizationOpenEnrollmentWindowID
LEFT JOIN OpenEnrollmentWindowProductType oewpt 
    ON oew.ID = oewpt.OrganizationOpenEnrollmentWindowID;


All that said, this is still quite an...unusual strategy, particularly the use of sql_variant and the CASE logic. You might get better value from refactoring the design to use a strong types, and a more traditional model.