Extended Events: Avoid the XML

SQL Server, Tools
One story I hear over and over goes like this: I tried setting up Extended Events, but then I saw the output was XML so I stopped. Look, I get it. I don't like XML either. It's a pain to work with. It's actively difficult to write queries against it. If there weren't a ton of ways to avoid the XML, yeah, I would never advocate for Extended Events. However, here we are, I have ten pages of blog posts that at least mention Extended Events. Why? Because I avoid the XML (most of the time). Lots of other people do as well. You can too. Let's see how. Live Data Window I have a video that goes into this in detail right here. But the core concept is simple.…
Read More