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Use Annotations in Packages

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Applies to: SQL Server SSIS Integration Runtime in Azure Data Factory

The SSIS Designer provides annotations, which you can use to make packages self-documenting and easier to understand and maintain. You can add annotations to the control flow, data flow, and event handler design surfaces of SSIS Designer. The annotations can contain any type of text, and they are useful for adding labels, comments, and other descriptive information to a package. Annotations are a design-time feature only. For example, they are not written to logs.

When you press ENTER, the text wraps to the next line. The annotation box automatically increases in size as you add additional lines of text. Package annotations are persisted as clear text in the CDATA section of the package file.

For more information about changes to the format of the package file, see SSIS Package Format.

When you save the package, SSIS Designer saves the annotations in the package.

Add an annotation to a package

  1. In SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT), open the Integration Services project that contains the package to which you want to add an annotation.

  2. In Solution Explorer, double-click the package to open it.

  3. In SSIS Designer, right-click anywhere on the design surface of the Control Flow, Data Flow, or Event Handler tab, and then click Add Annotation. A text block appears on the design surface of the tab.

  4. Add text.

    Note

    If you add no text, the text block is removed when you click outside the block.

  5. To change the size or format of the text in the annotation, right-click the annotation and then click Set Text Annotation Font.

  6. To add an additional line of text, press ENTER.

    The annotation box automatically increases in size as you add additional lines of text.

  7. To add an annotation to a group, right-click the annotation and then click Group.

  8. To save the updated package, on the File menu, click Save All.