file-element-dta.md

title	File Element (DTA)
description	In the dta utility, the File element specifies a workload file, which includes Transact-SQL statements that execute for a database to tune.
author	rwestMSFT
ms.author	randolphwest
ms.date	03/14/2017
ms.service	sql
ms.subservice	tools-other
ms.topic	reference
ms.collection	data-tools
helpviewer_keywords	File element
dev_langs	XML

File Element (DTA)

[!INCLUDE SQL Server]

Specifies the workload file. A workload is a set of [!INCLUDEtsql] statements that execute against a database or databases that you want to tune. Workload files can be [!INCLUDEtsql] scripts (.sql) or trace files (.trc). For more information, see Start and Use the Database Engine Tuning Advisor.

Syntax

  
<DTAInput>  
  <Server>...</Server>  
  <Workload>  
    <File>...</File>  
  </Workload>  

Element Characteristics

Characteristic	Description
Data type and length	Use the string data type to specify the directory path to your workload file. For example: <File>C:\Tuning\tun.sql</File> Note that length limit is enforced by the server.
Default value	None.
Occurrence	Required once if no other type of workload is specified. You must specify an EventString, a File, or a Database child element for the Workload parent, but only one type can be used. For example, if you specify a workload with the File element, then you cannot also specify a workload with the Database element in the same XML input file.

Element Relationships

Relationship	Elements
Parent element	Workload Element (DTA)
Child elements	None.

Example

For a usage example of this element, see Simple XML Input File Sample (DTA).

See Also

XML Input File Reference (Database Engine Tuning Advisor)