event-counter-target.md

title	Event Counter Target | Microsoft Docs
ms.custom
ms.date	06/13/2017
ms.prod	sql-server-2014
ms.reviewer
ms.technology	database-engine
ms.topic	conceptual
helpviewer_keywords	synchronous event counter target [SQL Server extended events] targets [SQL Server extended events], synchronous event counter target
ms.assetid	342e08d1-dcca-4a71-ae64-cb61b55b85bc
author	mashamsft
ms.author	mathoma
manager	craigg

Event Counter Target

The event counter target counts all events that occur during an Extended Events session. By using the event counter target, you can obtain information about workload characteristics without adding the overhead of full event collection. This target has no customizable parameters.

Adding the Target to a Session

To add the event counter target to an Extended Events session, you must include the following statement when you create or alter an event session:

ADD TARGET package0.event_counter  

Reviewing the Target Output

To review the output from the event counter target, you can use the following query, replacing session_name with the name of the event session:

SELECT name, target_name, CAST(xet.target_data AS xml)  
FROM sys.dm_xe_session_targets AS xet  
JOIN sys.dm_xe_sessions AS xe  
   ON (xe.address = xet.event_session_address)  
WHERE xe.name = 'session_name'  

The following example shows the event counter target output format.

<CounterTarget truncated = "0">  
  <Packages>  
    <Package name = "[package name]">  
      <Event name = "[event name]" count = "[number]" />  
    </Package>  
  </Packages>  
</CounterTarget>  

See Also

SQL Server Extended Events Targets
sys.dm_xe_session_targets (Transact-SQL)
CREATE EVENT SESSION (Transact-SQL)
ALTER EVENT SESSION (Transact-SQL)