live data Archives - Grant Fritchey

26Apr 2021 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

Using Extended Events Live Data With Azure

Azure, SQL Server, You Can't Do That In Profiler

In my last post I showed some shortcomings of Extended Events, however, it is possible to use Live Data with Azure. Let's explore exactly how that works. To get started, you'll need to follow the directions here to get set up with Azure Storage as the output target of your Extended Events session within your Azure SQL Database. There is a little bit of prep work, but it's all laid out in Microsoft's document. I found the Powershell to be a bit sketchy, but it shows you what's needed. The T-SQL just works. Live Data With Azure Once you've created an Extended Events Session that is output to Azure Storage, you've done most of the work. The trick is really simple. Get the Azure Storage account set up with a…

19Apr 2021 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Extended Events and Azure SQL Database

SQL Server, You Can't Do That In Profiler

Knowledge of how your system behaves is vital to better control, maintain, and grow the system. While Azure provides all sorts of wonderful assistance within Azure SQL Database, you're still going to need that same knowledge. When it comes to getting detailed information about Azure SQL Database, the tools are a little more limited than with an on-premises instance of SQL Server, or any virtual instance of SQL Server. There are no trace events. To see individual query calls, recompile events, query store behaviors, and so much more, you're going to have to use Extended Events. I'm going to write a series of posts on using Extended Events with Azure SQL Database. Tradition would call for this first post to be an initial how-to. Instead, I want to take a…

29Mar 2021 by Grant Fritchey 8 Comments

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.…

23Mar 2020 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Extended Events: Live Data Explorer, Grouping

SQL Server, You Can't Do That In Profiler

Of all the things that Extended Events does, I've found the ability to quickly and easily gather a little bit of data and then use the Data Explorer window Live Data grouping to aggregate it to be one of the greatest. Sure, if we're talking about using Extended Events on a busy production server, this method probably isn't going to work well. There, you are going to be better off querying the XML (I know, I know, but I have ways to help there too). But in development, when doing testing and query tuning, the Live Data window is a gift of the gods on par with fire or beer (it's not as good as whiskey). Live Data Grouping Let's imagine a scenario like this. You're working on some query…

16Mar 2020 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

Extended Events: Live Data Explorer, Getting Started

SQL Server, You Can't Do That In Profiler

One reason a lot of people don't like Extended Events is because the output is in XML. Let's face it, XML is a pain in the bottom. However, there are a bunch of ways around dealing with the XML data. The first, and easiest, is to ignore it completely and use the Live Data window built into SQL Server Management Studio. I've written about the Live Data window before, and I've been using it throughout this series of posts on Extended Events. There's a lot more to this tool than is immediately apparent. Today, we're going to explore the basics around this tool Live Data There are two easy ways to get the Live Data window open. The first, for any Extended Event session that's running, you can right click…

27Aug 2018 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

Why I Love Extended Events, Reason 394: Customize Live Data

Azure, SQL Server, SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2017

There are so many reasons to love Extended Events that it can really be overwhelming, but, one more reason that I love them are the ability to customize Live Data. More importantly, you can share that customization with others or move it between machines. Let's explore this. Customize Live Data If you open up an Extended Events file, or connect to a running Session, you're looking at the Live Data window and it looks something like this: I won't lie, that's a pretty ugly UI. At the top are all the events you've captured. At the bottom are the event fields. If you want to look at the information in different events, you click on the event, then down at the fields... blech! However, I have some options. Let's right…

20Nov 2017 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

Get That Profiler Feel in Extended Events

SQL Server, SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2017

I know. You love Profiler. I hear you. You're wrong, but that's OK. Kidding... mostly. Unfortunately though, I think a lot of what passes for issues and problems with Extended Events is actually a lack of knowledge about how they work. Let's take an example and run with it. No Grid in Extended Events One of the pushbacks I hear about using Extended Events is that the Live Data GUI just doesn't have that neat Profiler grid output. Instead you see a list of events in the top pane and then you have to look at the details in the bottom pane. It looks like this out of the gate: You're right. That's a royal pain. That's it. Toss Extended Events. Back to Profiler. Well, hang on a second. Let's…

Tag: live data