1. A method for graphically representing a plan for an input query for a relational database management system comprising the steps of: a) receiving an input query; b) processing the input query to form a plurality of plans; c) selecting at least one plan of the plurality of plans; d) transforming the selected plan into a self-describing formatted file, wherein the self-describing formatted file is platform independent; and e) generating a graph representing the selected plan from the self-describing formatted file.