Brian,

I was sampling out the code you gave and I didn't create the actual proc, STARTBLACBOX. i only wanted to issue the individual sql command in query analyzer. So i executed the 'declare' and the 'exec_sp_trace_create' line and stopped there. I noticed it did build a trace file in my data directory. I then proceeded to run the EXEC SP_TRACE_SETSTATUS line and it said i needed to declare the @traceid, so i inserted a declare statement before the exec sp_trace_setstatus and then it said that 'Procedure expects parameter '@traceid' of type 'int'.. how do i know what this @traceid value is? I know these questions are real elementary but I obviously missed the boat on this one. I guess what I'm wondering is, are you supposed to run the 2 sp _trace statements together like you did in your sample? Also, how do i stop this trace after it is started. I'm testing this all out on my test server.

Confused,

Juanita