title: SQL Server non-clustered Index never shows up in execution plan
body: <p>I have a database table called <code>tbl_event</code> with the non-clustered indexes <code>IDX_Event_Folder</code> and <code>IDX_Event_Time</code> defined as:</p>
  
  <pre><code>CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IDX_Event_Folder] 
  ON [dbo].[tbl_event]([nobjectid] ASC)
  
  CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [IDX_Event_Time] 
  ON [dbo].[tbl_event]([tetime] ASC)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I ran the following simple queries and got the execution plans displayed directly underneath:</p>
  
  <p><strong>Query 1:</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT * 
  FROM tbl_event 
  WHERE tbl_event.nobjectid = 1410000
  ORDER BY tetime
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/P9qzF.png" alt="Execution Plan for Query 1"></p>
  
  <p><strong>Query 2:</strong></p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT * 
  FROM tbl_event 
  WHERE tbl_event.nobjectid = 1410000
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/D0kbd.png" alt="Execution Plan for Query 2"></p>
  
  <p>My question is, why is the index on <strong>nobjectid</strong> never utilized? I would expect there to be an index seek or scan when nobjectid is specified in the where clause of these select statements. Is my understanding of this analysis incorrect?</p>