keepexisting-element-dta.md

title	KeepExisting Element (DTA)
description	In the dta utility, the KeepExisting element specifies physical design structures that Database Engine Tuning Advisor retains when it generates recommendations.
author	rwestMSFT
ms.author	randolphwest
ms.date	03/01/2017
ms.service	sql
ms.subservice	tools-other
ms.topic	reference
ms.collection	data-tools
helpviewer_keywords	KeepExisting element
dev_langs	XML

KeepExisting Element (DTA)

[!INCLUDE SQL Server]

Specifies the physical design structures (indexes, indexed views, or partitioning) that Database Engine Tuning Advisor must retain when generating its recommendation.

Syntax

  
<DTAInput>  
...code removed...  
    <TuningOptions>  
      <KeepExisting>...</KeepExisting>  

Element Characteristics

Characteristic	Description
Data type and length	string, length limit enforced by the server.
Allowed values	NONE No existing structures. ALL All existing structures. ALIGNED All partition-aligned structures. CL_IDX All clustered indexes on tables. IDX All clustered and nonclustered indexes on tables. Use only one of these values with this element.
Default value	None.
Occurrence	Optional. Can use only once for each TuningOptions element.

Element Relationships

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

Example

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

See Also

XML Input File Reference (Database Engine Tuning Advisor)