How to read SSIS Logs - SSIS Log Analyzer

A new utility has recently got floated on codeplex, and this caught my attention as it's related to SSIS. This utility is known as SSIS Log Analyzer. It works for both SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008. It offers different features (see mentioned below), but the one I like is "Rerun (debug) the entire sequence of events which happened during package execution showing the flow of control in graphical form, changes in runtime values for each task like execution duration etc". This is synonymous to the what profiler offers while recording the trace. The trace file can then be executed again in profiler to measure & analyze database performance.

The features that are listed for this utility on it's product page can be classified into two basic categories:

1) Reasonable user interface to analyze the log or I would use the word "View" the log in a organized fashion than viewing it in the execution results pane.

2) Analysis that this utility claims to provide, in terms of package analysis and log analysis as well.

The features that the product page lists are as below:

• Option to analyze the logs manually by applying row and column filters over the log data or by using queries to specify more complex criterions.
• Automated Performance Analysis which provides a quick graphical look on which tasks spent most time during package execution.
• Rerun (debug) the entire sequence of events which happened during package execution showing the flow of control in graphical form, changes in runtime values for each task like execution duration etc .
• Support for Auto Analyzers to automatically find out issues and provide suggestions for problems which can be figured out with the help of SSIS logs and/or package.
• Option to analyze just log file or log and package together.
• Provides a lightweight environment to have a quick look at the package. Opening it in BIDS takes some time as being an authoring environment it does all sorts of validations resulting in some delay.

It's an interesting tool, and has a good potential of gaining maturity in terms of providing package analysis. This utility used with DTLoggedExec, can be a very useful and handy toolset that too for free.