Online Documentation for SQL Manager for SQL server

Defining transaction log files

This step of the wizard allows you to define transaction log files for the new database.

Log files hold all of the log information used to recover the database. There must be at least one log file for each database, although there can be more than one. The recommended file name extension for log files is *.ldf.

To add a log file, right-click in the main working area and select the Add File popup menu item.

To remove a log file, right-click the file in the list and select the Delete File popup menu item.

The Name is a logical name used to refer to the physical file in all Transact-SQL statements. The logical file name must conform to the rules for SQL Server identifiers and must be unique within the database.

The File Name and Path is the name of the physical file including the directory path. The path must follow the rules for operating system file names.

File size

Use the spinner control to specify the original size of the selected transaction log file (in megabytes).

SQL Server 2005 (and higher) transaction log files can grow automatically from their originally specified size. When you define a file, you can specify a file growth increment. Each time the file fills, it increases its size by the growth increment. If there are multiple files in a file group, they do not autogrow until all the files are full. Growth then occurs using a round-robin algorithm.

Each file can also have maximum file size specified. If Unlimited is specified, the file can continue to grow until it has used all available space on the disk.

Note: After the database is created, you can manage transaction log files using the Log files section of the Database Properties dialog.

Click the Next button to proceed to the Defining filestream files and filegroups step (for SQL Server 2008) or to the Setting recovery model and collation step of the wizard.