Sorry, I'm not actually going to tell you how to read the log. I'm just going to talk about it... and whether it's a good thing to be able to do or not, or whether it's an absolutely crucial feature that MS needs to provide for us immediately, in a hotfix, if not sooner. Forget about fixing bugs, I want to read the log because I forgot to set up a trace beforehand....
You may have noticed that my blogging frequency has fallen off. One or two of you also noticed that I am no longer writing a regular article each month for SQL Server Magazine. Those two facts are related. I have cut back on non-essential activities to try to get my next book out as soon as possible. It looks like I might even finish in time to get the book out on the shelves by early next year. Stay tuned...
Since I couldn't bear to not do anything for SQL Server Magazine, I started writing the commentary in the weekly email newsletter. Actually, I do it every week but the fourth week of the month. If you like, you can sign up for this free newsletter here.
My commentary last Thursday seemed to have rattled some cages. Before I even woke up Thursday morning, there were already two comments on the site, and someone sent me a personal email about what I wrote. By now, there are quite a few more comments. I basically wrote about the need for a log reader tool. It wasn't deeply technical; it's just a commentary after all. You can read it here:
http://www.sqlmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=100076
But boy, did people get upset. They called me bad names... well, if 'mediocre' can be considered a bad name...
So I responded as follows:
Wow... I have never gotten so many comments so quickly about one of my articles. I must really have touched a nerve here!
There is a difference between the actual data rows referenced by the log, and the log format. It's the log format, and giving people full details about what is in the log, that is propriatary information. There is nothing specifically bad about giving people that information. However, calling me names because I don't stand up on a soapbox and DEMAND that MS add this functionality seems a little extreme. There are plenty of other things MS could do with the product and providing a log reader tool is way down on the list.
Yes I realize it is important to some people, but there are many other ways to get this information through tracing etc. If the developer resources are limited at MS, I would much prefer they spend their time on more important stuff. MS knows it's important that people have this information, that's why they added a great deal of additional tracing capabilities in SQL Server 2008.
Also, keep in mind that a log reader tool wouldn't help you debug problems with logic, or with bad reports due to faulty SELECTs. If your WHERE clause was written badly, a log reader tool could tell you which rows were affected, but not WHY. You'd need a tracing tool for that. Vogelm's comment that a log reader tool would help troubleshoot bad queries from 3rd party apps is not true; you need to see the statements for that, not just the affected data.
I do appreciate kbreneman's comment that the real problem is one of perception. MS should make clear that the transaction log is not an audit tool; if you want auditing, you need to set it up on your own, because you're the only one who knows what's important for you to capture.
(The only way to respond to comments is to write a comment of my own, and then the form insists that I rate the article I am responding to. I always feel a bit weird having to rate my own articles.)
Since I wrote the article, I have found out that Lumigent does have a log reader tool for SQL Server 2005, but I have heard less than stellar reviews about its ability to capture some of the more interesting datatype activities that are now possible in SQL Server 2005. And their website still doesn't list any version numbers.
I can't stop thinking about this, so I thought I would open up the issue to a wider audience.
How important do you think it is that Microsoft provide a log reader tool for us?
Thanks!
~Kalen
