SQL Server Profiler - Organize Columns

Use the Organize Columns dialog box to select data columns for grouping or aggregating events that are displayed in a trace, which makes large trace files or tables easier to view and analyze.

Aggregating moves and collapses all events in the trace under its respective event class type. A plus sign (+) appears to the left of the event class name. Clicking the plus sign expands the event class so you can view all events of that type.

Grouping organizes all event classes of a specific type together in the trace window display. However, the events are not collapsed under the event class type.

When you group or aggregate events in a trace window display, the columns selected for grouping or aggregating remain fixed in the display window, but you can scroll to the right or left to view all other data columns.

To access this dialog box, open an existing trace file or table, and click Properties on the SQL Server Profiler File menu. In the Trace Properties dialog box, click the Events Selection tab, and then click Organize Columns. You can also click Organize Columns on the Events Selection tab when you are creating a new trace.

Options

  • Groups
    Move data column names under Groups to group or aggregate event classes in the trace window.

    To aggregate events, move one data column into Groups. This causes all events of a specific type to be collapsed under event class type name in the trace window display. A plus sign (+) appears to the left of the event class name. Click the plus sign to expand the event class type and view all events. You can set aggregation and grouping on and off by clicking Aggregated View or Grouped View on the View menu.

    To group events, move more than one data column into Groups. This causes all events of a specific type to be grouped together in the trace window display, but does not collapse the events under each event class type name. You can switch back and forth between a grouped view and an ungrouped view by clicking Grouped View on the View menu. When more than one data column is moved into Groups, the option to switch to Aggregated View is not available.

  • Columns
    List of data columns available to move into Groups. Click the plus sign (+) to the left of Columns to expand the list.

  • Up
    After selecting a data column, click Up to move data columns up into Groups. You can also click Up to rearrange the display of columns in the trace window display.

  • Down
    After selecting a data column, click Down to move data columns out of Groups. You can also click Down to rearrange the display of columns in the trace window display.