Wavin’ Flag: Sorting Out SQL Server Trace Flags for Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Editor's Note: Jörg will be leading the session SQL Performance Featuers with Microsoft Dynamics NAV at Decisions Fall 2010 on November 3.

Just a few months ago we had the FIFA 2010 World Cup (for our American readers: a small soccer tournament that brings a halt to all other activity worldwide every 4 years) with its famous anthem, for which I've named this article.  We've seen a lot of flags from various nations, peacefully waving at each other in and around the stadiums, united in the spirit of sportsmanship. Yep, a flag is actually quite an ancient thing used for communication; in older times probably somewhat less peaceful when the troops followed their banners into battle, or - afterwards - used a white sheet to indicate surrender. The Navy actually made an art of using flags to transfer information in the times before radio or phone - an effective, if not slow, method of communicating (although it might have been little time consuming to waggle a good joke from ship to ship (...but I digress...)

Even today flags are useful and used - and as I'd like to write about NAV/SQL, I'm specifically referring to so called "Trace Flags" (TF). Speaking about SQL Server, we're not talking about colors, of course, but numbers. But the purpose is still the same: with "waving" a certain flag we tell the SQL Server either to do something or to give us some information back.

Confusingly, there are lots of KB articles, BLOGS and best-practice documents around, telling which ...