May, 2005

I got got an email from Chirag in Nigeria with the following problem. He had a positional flat file which he needed to parse which looked like this (the ` marks the carrage return and like feed, EOF is the end of file marker remove these to test the file...

The more I work with the Rules API the more I'm convinced that the Vocabulary element was only created for the BRC. The most generous I can be is that someone came up with a good idea for the BRC and "retrofitted" it for the API. There are two reasons...

As has been noted before in the lore of BizTalk, it sure would be useful to use a real debugger with orchestrations - at least occasionally. There are times when an expression shape winds up getting a bit sticky (not that I would know...) and a debugger...

As has been noted before in the lore of BizTalk, it sure would be useful to use a real debugger with orchestrations - at least occasionally. There are times when an expression shape winds up getting a bit sticky (not that I would know...) and a debugger...

Brennan and I are still planning to present on patterns at tech-ed, titled: “Implementing Real World Patterns with BizTalk 2004.” Stay tuned, as we will post a general overview of what we will be discussing, as well as links that will be relevant...

I am so glad to see the updates to the native adapters in BizTalk 2006. Scott Woodgate posted a document on the changes here. (you might need to join the BizTalkServerStuff group if this link doesn't work) I was lucky enough to spend some time with the...

Once you've got your SOA all sorted - IIS can run out of available connections pretty quick due to things like Web Services calling other WebServices on the same box using up valuable connections. Here's a great MSDN Article that gives you the tech. details...

When u want to receive XML data from your stored procedure which containts a SELECT and UPDATE (processed records) statement, you can have some problems to Generate the SQL Adapter XSD. When u press the last Window in the Wizard you could get an error...

I don’t know about you but I find the best way to understand how something is working is from reading the code and then stepping through its execution, with VS’s trusty local and immediate windows. A friend of mine calls this “developers...

We attended a .Net User Group last night the .Net evangelist gave us quite an in depth overview of Web Service Extensions 2.0, 3.0, the history of WSI Web Service Interoperability Organisation (the guys who come up with the standards) and a sneak preview...

For those of you that attended the training and Tech Ed you may remember there was some confusion over the roles of BizTalk and the messaging engine Indigo built into LongHorn (MS future operating system due for release 2006). I found this article based...

Has anybody seen a Vocabulary API for the rule engine? No? That's probably because it seems to either be on its way out or never made it in the first place. According to the BizTalk SDK " The following objects are exposed by Microsoft(r) BizTalk(r) Server...

Abstract : In the asynchronous world, we can talk about Real async and Simulated async . Each one has its own pros and cons. Let’s see a simplified sample of each case. Sample scenario, let’s assume two systems, A and B : 1.- A sends a message to B ....

First you open visual studio and goto Tools in the Menu bar and all the way towards the bottom of the list you'll see External Tools (click on that). Once that is open you will see a list of Menu Contents, to the right you will see an add and delete button...

The BizTalk 2004 rules execution engine is "a discrimination network-based forward-chaining inference engine designed to optimize in-memory operation". Apparently. What I understand this to mean is that it can arrive at a decision based on reasoning of...

OK, so tell me we haven’t all done this at least once. We come across a way to improve our output efficiency, and at the same time to enforce good design and standards – we figure we should provide the rest of the team with a tool that can...

I’ve just attended the latest of the BizTalk Deep Dive training courses in the UK, which Quick Learn have developed, and are running with a special invite to Microsoft Partners. (I was lucky enough to get a place on one of the free sessions.) The...

I am removing this post as it is no longer needed. With SP2 for 2004 public now, we have backported the Backup / Restore work from 2006 which includes scripts for automating the recovery of the system after a failure (which is what I had posted here)...

First, sorry I have disappeared for a while. I seem to say sorry a lot. We are pushing hard over here to build an awesome next version of the product and to fix up a number of things you guys have given us feedback on. I'm also still working on my Tech...

I suppose my first entry in this blog should be some insightful post about the BizTalk Rules Engine (BRE). Sorry, move along please, nothing to see. You see, I want to record my journey through a whole new technology. The BRE is that technology. I’m...