thanks for the info guys, i'm diging through the details now.

I've got a solid handle on what i was after now, a fresh set of eyes got me started.

I'll post my results and an article on it when i finish it, but i'm able to script the [data] and [action] items as they appear int he session definitions, but now i want a single coherent script to build it all together.

for example, here's how i'm getting the actions that were definied for a given extended events session:

--actions

;WITH MyCTE

AS

(

select

sess.name,

targz.target_name ,

actz.action_name

from sys.dm_xe_sessions sess

INNER JOIN sys.dm_xe_session_targets AS targz

ON sess.address = targz.event_session_address

AND targz.Target_name = 'event_file'

INNER JOIN sys.dm_xe_session_events evtz

ON targz.event_session_address = evtz.event_session_address

inner join sys.dm_xe_session_event_actions actz

ON targz.event_session_address = actz.event_session_address AND evtz.event_name = actz.event_name

WHERE sess.name = 'ApplicationErrors'

)

SELECT s.Colzs

FROM(SELECT

Colzs = STUFF((SELECT ',' + 'n.value(''(action[@name="' + action_name + '"]/value)[1]'', ''varchar(max)'') ' + CHAR(13) + CHAR(10)

FROM MyCTE

ORDER BY action_name

FOR XML PATH(''), TYPE).value('.','varchar(max)'),1,1,'')

) s