Configuration Element (DTA)

Specifies a user-specified configuration consisting of existing and hypothetical physical design structures for the Database Engine Tuning Advisor to analyze when tuning a workload.

Syntax

  
<DTAInput>  
    <Server>...</Server>  
    <Workload>...</Workload>  
    <TuningOptions>...</TuningOptions  
    <Configuration [SpecificationMode="Relative" | "Absolute"]>  
    ...code removed here...  
    </Configuration>  
</DTAInput>

Element Attributes

Configuration Attribute Description

SpecificationMode Optional. Specifies whether Database Engine Tuning Advisor should analyze the specified configuration in relation to the current existing configuration, or as a completely new, standalone one. Use a string data type to specify this attribute with one of the following allowed values:

Relative:
Evaluates the specified configuration in relation to the current existing configuration of physical design structures (indexes, indexed views, partitioning) in the database that is being tuned. For example:
<Configuration SpecificationMode="Relative">

Absolute:
Evaluates the specified configuration as a standalone configuration. When Absolute is specified, Database Engine Tuning Advisor does not consider the existing configuration. For example:
<Configuration SpecificationMode="Absolute">

Configuration Attribute	Description
`SpecificationMode`	Optional. Specifies whether Database Engine Tuning Advisor should analyze the specified configuration in relation to the current existing configuration, or as a completely new, standalone one. Use a string data type to specify this attribute with one of the following allowed values: `Relative`: Evaluates the specified configuration in relation to the current existing configuration of physical design structures (indexes, indexed views, partitioning) in the database that is being tuned. For example: `<Configuration SpecificationMode="Relative">` `Absolute`: Evaluates the specified configuration as a standalone configuration. When Absolute is specified, Database Engine Tuning Advisor does not consider the existing configuration. For example: `<Configuration SpecificationMode="Absolute">`

Element Characteristics

Characteristic	Description
Data type and length	None.
Default value	None.
Occurrence	Optional. Can use once for each `DTAInput` element.

Element Relationships

Relationship	Elements
Parent element	DTAInput Element (DTA)
Child elements	Server Element for Configuration (DTA)

Example

For a usage example of this element, see the XML Input File Sample with User-specified Configuration (DTA).