Stephen W. Thomas BizTalk MVP

Latest Windows Application Server Enhancement (Dublin) Videos On Channel 9

Stephen W. Thomas — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:08:16 GMT

Recently I was asked to present at the BizTalk Users Group in Sweden. I had a great time and was welcomed nicely by my Swedish friends.

I presented on the new enhancements to the Windows Application Server role code named Dublin.

I presented two 35 minutes sessions covering a lot of the same material talked about at the recent TechEd in Los Angeles, CA.

The two sessions are now online and available for everyone to watch. The first session is essentially the value proposition of using Dublin and Workflow Services and the second session is a deeper dive into custom tracking and monitoring.

The top question I get is when can I get the code for Dublin? Microsoft stated at TechEd they planned for a public beta of Dublin around the PDC 09 timeframe.

Enjoy and please post any comments or questions.

Session 1: Inside the Windows Application Server Enhancements known as Dublin (1/2)

Abstract: In this session we will review the features of the Windows Application Server Enhancements code named Dublin. This session will show how to use new and enhanced concepts in the .Net 4.0 framework to empower Services hosted in Windows allowing users insight into service health and activity.

Session 2: Inside the Windows Application Server Enhancements known as Dublin (2/2)

Abstract: This session takes a deeper dive into Windows Application Server Enhancements by looking in detail at the hosting of a Workflow Service. This will cover reviewing a web service aggregator Workflow Service, setting up custom tracking, monitoring running services, and import and export of applications.

Windows Application Server Enhancements known as Dublin Presentation in Sweden

Stephen W. Thomas — Sun, 24 May 2009 00:43:51 GMT

On Thursday June 4th I will be presenting in Sweden to the BizTalk Users Group. I am excited to be making the trip to Sweden and it will be great to see so many BizTalk enthusiasts all in one place. I will be presenting two sessions both on Microsoft's new Window Application Server Enhancements – known as “Dublin”. The details of the sessions are below. If you are in Stockholm and want to attend you can get information on the BizTalk Users Group home page.

Meeting Title: Inside the Windows Application Server Enhancements known as Dublin

Session 1: Walkthrough of Windows Application Server Enhancements code named Dublin

In this session we will review the features of the Windows Application Server Enhancements code named Dublin. This session will show how to use new and enhanced concepts in the .Net 4.0 framework to empower Services hosted in Windows allowing users insight into service health and activity.

Session 2: Managing, Monitoring, and Deploying Services using Windows Application Server Enhancements

This session takes a deeper dive into Windows Application Server Enhancements by looking in detail at the hosting of a Workflow Service. This will cover reviewing a web service aggregator Workflow Service, setting up custom tracking, monitoring running services, and import and export of applications.

Designing Services for Management & Scale with Dublin Video Online

Stephen W. Thomas — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:11:21 GMT

A few months ago Kent Brown and I presented on Dublin (the new enhancements to Windows for Workflow Hosting, Monitoring, and Tracking) at the 2009 SOA and Business Process Conference in Seattle Washington.

This session was recorded and is now online. You can view this video here: http://soaconference2009.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!FA6FC7F5DB1C07!135.entry

The abstract for the session is below.

Abstract: Dublin is the code name for the new Windows Application Server features inside Windows. In this session we will take a look at how to build a service to leverage the management tools inside Dublin to gain insight into the health of running services. We will show how simple it is to configure Dublin to custom track custom values inside message payloads. Once tested, deployment and migration of the service to a new environment will be demonstrated.

Watch for more to come from me on Dublin in the up coming months.

Setting Up Continuous Integration, Automated Unit Tests, and MSI Packaging in BizTalk 2009

Stephen W. Thomas — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:06:16 GMT

With BizTalk Server 2009, setting up integration with Team Foundation Server (TFS) has become much simpler. While setting up continuous integration, automated unit tests, and msi packaging was possible before BizTalk 2009 it was a huge pain.

Below I will walk through the steps to set this up with BizTalk 2009. I was able to get this up and running in about 30 hours including the time to create the Virtual Machine (that was 15 hours). It took 47 build attempts in TFS before all the bugs were worked out in the process. While I cut some corners for the demo it would not take much more time to develop a true production ready solution.

We can start by taking a look at the Virtual Machine setup:

Windows 2008 SP1
TFS 2008 SP1 with Build Server installed
SQL 2008 with all optional components installed
Visual Studios 2008 SP1
BizTalk Server 2009 with MSBuild tools installed

As you read though the steps below keep in mind I have about 10 hours of experience with MS Build and TFS 2008. This was my very first time setting up automated unit tests and continuous integration with BizTalk. This is just one approach for demo purposes. In real life, for example, all these systems would not be on the same server. This would surely make the process harder.

At a high level, this is what is happening:

Update to a file is checked in –> Build is kicked off –> Build completed with no errors –> Unit Tests are ran –> (Verification – Not Shown) –> MSI is created

Keys Pain Points:

Setting up TFS 2008 with SQL 2008 is many times more complex that you would think. Make sure you Google this before starting.
Remember user permissions. This will affect your share permissions, other folders, and the ability to run scripts. For example, to run the Create MSI Process below the user running the Build Agent will need to be a BizTalk Admin.
Relative and absolute file paths are a killer. I spent a lot of time finding temp locations and getting relative paths to work. Looking at the Build Log and MSBuild Targets was a huge help.
Keep in mind TFS will use the version of code checked into TFS. If you update a file or the build project make sure you check it in or the new settings will be ran.

Download the Solution Code

Setting Up Continuous Integration, Unit Tests, and MSI Creation in BizTalk 2009 Sample Code

Setting Up Unit Tests for use in Continuous Integration

Step 1: Setup a Unit Test project following the help guide instructions at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd224279.aspx

Step 2: Create a Test List in the .vsmdi that was added to the solution when the Unit Test project was created. Right click on the Lists of Tests. Creating the new list named RunAllUnitTests is shows below.

Step 3: Add the test methods from Step 1 to the new test list. Drag and drop the test into the test list. This is shown below.

Pointers: The hardest part of setting up the unit tests is getting the file paths correct for Schema and Map testing. I finally got tired of trying to figure it out and hard coded the paths to known local files. This is not the right way to do it.

Setting Up Continuous Integration

Step 1: Add Solution to Source Control in its own folder tree. In this case it is called CIDemo as shown below.

Step 2: Create a new Build Definition inside Team Explorer.

Step 3: Give the Build Definition a name. In this case it is called CIDemoBuildDefinition.

Step 4: Set the Workspace to the CIDemo solution folder created in Step 1. This is shown below.

Step 5: Go to the Project File section of the wizard. Select Create on the Project File screen to make a new Build Project. A new wizard will open.

Step 6: Select the CIDemo solution. This will be the solution that the build project will build.

Step 7: Select the build type. In this case it is Release.

Step 8: Since we already created the Unit Tests and a Test List select the RunAllUnitTests test list to have the unit tests ran when a build is performed. This is shown below. This can always be updated in the build project later on if the Unit Tests are not ready. Click Finish to end this wizard.

Step 9: Back on the main wizard, leave the Retention Policy items unchanged.

Step 10: Under Build Defaults, select New to create a new Build Agent. Name the build agent and set the computer name. In this case the name is CIDemoBuildAgent and the computer name is Win2008Ent-Base as seem below.

Step 11: Set the Share location for the builds to be copied to, also known as the Drop Location. A local share was created called Builds. To ensure no permission problems Everyone was added to this share. This is not what should be done in real life. Most likely this would be on another server.

Step 12: Under Trigger, select the Build each chick-in radio button. This will create a new build with each check in. Click OK to create the Build Definition.

Step 13: Test the process. Check in a file.

Creating A BizTalk MSI

The process used here to build an MSI package first installs the BizTalk Assemblies and Binding file to a local BizTalk Server. Then it exports out the MSI Package. While other approaches can be used that do not require a local BizTalk instance, this approach would allow for additional BizUnit style Unit Test (or Build Verification tests) to be ran against deployed code.

Step 1: Modify the CreateFullandPartialMSI.bat sample file in the CreateApp folder under Application Deployment in the BizTalk 2009 SDK. This file is called BuildMSI.bat in the Helper folder in the solution. Changes made to the file include changing paths, dll names, and application names. Make sure the order of the dlls is in the correct deploy order. i.e. Schemas before Maps.

Step 2: Modify the Build Project created in Step 5 above. This file is a MSBuild file that controls the build and tests ran against the build. At the end of the file right before the closing </Project> tag add the following:

<Target Name="AfterTest">
<MakeDir Directories="$(BinariesRoot)/Release/Bindings" ></MakeDir>
<Copy SourceFiles="$(SolutionRoot)/Bindings/CIDemo_Bindings_Dev.xml" DestinationFiles="$(BinariesRoot)/Release/Bindings/CIDemo_Bindings_Dev.xml"></Copy>
<Copy SourceFiles="$(SolutionRoot)/Helper/BuildMSI.bat" DestinationFiles="$(BinariesRoot)/BuildMSI.bat"></Copy>
</Target>

<Target Name="AfterEndToEndIteration">
<Exec Command="$(BinariesRoot)/BuildMSI.bat" WorkingDirectory="$(BinariesRoot)" ></Exec>
<Copy SourceFiles="$(BinariesRoot)/CIDemo.msi" DestinationFiles="$(DropLocation)/$(BuildNumber)/CIDemo.msi"></Copy>
<Delete Files="$(DropLocation)/$(BuildNumber)/BuildMSI.bat"></Delete>
</Target>

This code will copy the binding files, the bat file used to build the MSI, and do some clean up. This can be customized as needed and the possibilities are almost endless. Make sure the updated file is checked into TFS.

Step 3: Ensure the user account running the build agent is a member of the BizTalk Admin Group. This use can be found inside TFS by starting a build and viewing the properties as seen below. This account is set up when you install TFS.

Step 4: Watch for output in the folder share when a file is checked in or a build manually started.

This outlines at a high level the process to create automated unit tests, set up continuous integration, and create a BizTalk MSI package. I hope to put this together into a video shortly. Until then, best of luck.

Follow-up on Enabling BizTalk Unit Testing for Schemas and Maps

Stephen W. Thomas — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:37:26 GMT

This is a follow up to my post yesterday. I was setting up some automated unit tests for BizTalk 2009 in Release mode. I received the following errors.

CIDemo.Schemas.InputSchema does not contain a definition for 'ValidateInstance' and no extension method 'ValidateInstance' accepting a first argument of type 'CIDemo.Schemas.InputSchema' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

CIDemo.Maps.Input_To_Output does not contain a definition for 'TestMap' and no extension method 'TestMap' accepting a first argument of type 'CIDemo.Maps.Input_To_Output' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

CIDemo.Maps.Input_To_Output does not contain a definition for 'ValidateOutput' and no extension method 'ValidateOutput' accepting a first argument of type 'CIDemo.Maps.Input_To_Output' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

This is because the value under Unit Testing: Enable Unit Testing are Configuration Specific as seen below. The default is False. So moving to Release mode reset the values.

I also noticed the Application Name is Configuration specific as well.

Just something to keep in mind when changing configurations in BizTalk 2009.

ValidateInstance Not Found When Setting Up BizTalk 2009 Unit Tests

Stephen W. Thomas — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:55:28 GMT

Today I was setting up Unit Tests for BizTalk 2009 Schema and Maps. I was using the BizTalk Server 2009 help guide example as a reference.

I ran into the following error message:

<Class Name> does not contain a definition for 'ValidateInstance' and no extension method 'ValidateInstance' accepting a first argument of type <Class Name> could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?

This looked like this inside Visual Studios 2008:

This was caused by the referenced Schema project not being marked to Enable Unit Testing. This setting can be found under the Product Properties.

Just simply change this to true, rebuild the Schema and Maps Projects, and the Unit Test methods should now be able to find the ValidateInstance or other missing methods method.

When Unit Testing BizTalk 2009 Map projects, the ValidateOutput method may not be found. While I did not have problems with creating mapping unit test the solution would be the same.

Enjoy.

BizTalk Server 2009 Now on MSDN

Stephen W. Thomas — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:11:17 GMT

The latest edition of BizTalk Server is now available on MSDN.

The following editions are available for download (this may vary based on your MSDN subscription):

Developer Edition
Branch Edition
Standard Edition
Enterprise Edition

I only see the x86 version of each product available for download right now.

BizTalk Server 2009 has the following enhancements and improvements over the past version of BizTalk:

Support for .Net 3.5 SP1 and Visual Studios 2008 SP2

XSLT Debugger in Visual Studios
Support for Unit Tests in Visual Studios
Full Application Life Cycle Management

Windows 2008 and SQL 2008
Support for Hyper-V
New ESB Guidance 2.0
Mobile RFID
Updated and enhanced EDI, AS2, and SWIFT
New SQL Server Adapter

Important Notes:

BizTalk 2009 will support SQL 2005
HAT and HWS will be deprecated

In addition to BizTalk Server 2009, the 2009 Accelerators, 2009 Adapters for Host Systems, 2009 Line of Business Adapters, 2009 RFID, and 2009 Host Integration Server are also available. These are all under the BizTalk Server 2009 section under Servers.

Issue 5 of BizTalk Hotrod Magazine Now Online

Stephen W. Thomas — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:22:46 GMT

The latest edition of the BizTalk Hotrod magazine is now available. This is a awesome 45+ page magazine with loads of great articles.

Get the latest edition here.

Designing Services for Management & Scale with Dublin Session at the SOA Conference

Stephen W. Thomas — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:51:57 GMT

If you are headed to the SOA & Business Process Conference in Seattle this week and you have an interest in Dublin (Microsoft's new extensions to windows to host WCF and WF) make sure you check out my session. I will be presenting with Kent Brown from Microsoft.

The abstract is below.

Abstract:

Dublin is the code name for the new Windows Application Server features inside Windows. In this session we will take a look at how to build a service to leverage the management tools inside Dublin to gain insight into the health of running services. We will show how simple it is to configure Dublin to custom track custom values inside message payloads. Once tested, deployment and migration of the service to a new environment will be demonstrated.

BizTalk 2009 and ESB 2.0 Now Available for Public Beta

Stephen W. Thomas — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:33:53 GMT

Today Microsoft has released the Beta for BizTalk Server 2009 to the public.

It is available on Microsoft's Connect site at https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=218

This beta will be community supported though the Microsoft TechNet forums here.

Some of the key enhancements to BizTalk 2009 is support for the latest Microsoft offerings (including Windows 2008, Visual Studios 2008 SP1, .Net 3.5 SP1, SQL 2008, and TFS), support for RFID Mobile, and new LOB Adapters (including a new SQL Adapter).

A new release of the Enterprise Service Bus Guidance is available on CodePlex (http://www.codeplex.com/esb).

Step by Step: Working with Content Based Correlation in Workflow 4.0

Stephen W. Thomas — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:12:09 GMT

Don't miss the screen cast video on this same subject available at Content Based Correlation in Workflow 4.0

Content based correlation is used when you send a message out of a long running workflow and need to get a response back later into that same workflow using information contained inside the original message. In this case, the correlation needs to be stored and made available to match the response message.

Content based correlation is easy to set up and use inside Windows Workflow 4.0. At a high level you need to do the following:

Create a Correlation Handle variable to use for the correction
Set up this variable and xpath on the Send Activity
Set up this variable and xpath on the Receive Activity

It is that easy!

Lets take a look at this process step by step.

First, set up a new Variable inside the workflow. In the picture below, the variable is named OrderCorrelation.

Using the Type Picker and the Search box on the top right, search for CorrelationHandle. Select the value under the WorkflowServiceModel as seen below.

Now we use this variable on the Send Activity that needs to set up the correlation. Select the Send Activity and press F4. When the properties window opens, go to section 4 - Send Message Correlation. Here we need to set three values. First, set the variable in the Correlation Handle box and then select the correct endpoint from the drop down as seen below.

The third value to set on the Send Activity is the XPath values to use for the content based correlation. Below, we set up an OrderIdQuery with an XPath of //temp:OrderId. OrderId is the variable name of the value in the output message we want to correlate on.

When it is all done, the Send Message will look like the picture below.

The same process is followed on the Receive Activity. Make sure to use the same Correlation Handle. The end result of the Receive Activity is shown below.

And you are done! It is that easy to set up content based correction inside Workflow 4.0.

BizTalk vs Dublin - Do Not Get Confused

Stephen W. Thomas — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:55:48 GMT

I was reading an interesting blog post today called Will Dublin Replace BizTalk?

It got me thinking more about this and I wrote up the response below. I would love to hear other peoples comments and thoughts on this. I see a clear separation on when you would use BizTalk vs when you would use Dublin. I see a great story going forward with both technologies working together.

I welcome comments and feedback on this.

Comment on "Will Dublin Replace BizTalk?" blog post:

"I like your article on Dublin and BizTalk but wanted to comment on a few parts.

As someone who makes a living working with BizTalk Server my ears perk up when I hear “it is going away”. I heard this same kind of talk three years ago when Microsoft introduced Workflow in .Net 3.0. I for one was confused about how Workflow would fit in with BizTalk. And now, BizTalk is bigger and stronger than ever.

Why? Because it does a great job inside the enterprise for the scenarios it is designed to address such as system and application integration, connectivity, transformation, and monitoring, just to name a few.

What I see Dublin (and .Net 4.0) doing is taking some of the best features of BizTalk and making them accessible to other parts of the enterprise that might not have requirements that call for a full and robust Integration Server. With Dublin specifically, it is the management and monitory concepts from BizTalk that we can see inside the Dublin code from PDC.

Will there be scenarios that now make more sense in a Dublin environment than BizTalk? Of course. Will all scenarios fit into Dublin – not a chance.

Even today I hear the question, “Why would we pay for BizTalk?” And for some customers BizTalk is not the right answer. For those customers they will now have Dublin to look at rather than having to custom build a solution.

It often comes down to a cost to buy vs. cost to build analysis. On an individual project basis this sometimes becomes a difficult decision. When you think enterprise wide, typically the cost to buy a supportable product with a core set of features is the better answer. With BizTalk, you get adapters, high availability, robust development tools, EDI, RFID, flat file parsing, administration, BAM, etc. While some of these items are being moved further down into the stack, not all of them will be.

The buy vs. build analysis will become more difficult. I think that is a good thing. The end goal is to do more with less and to lower the cost for consistently delivering supportable and maintainable code that meets the requirements. I think Dublin (and .Net 4.0) helps us down that road. In my mind, I’ll always see a need for BizTalk and will continue to recommend it to my clients as a core component in the enterprise when it makes sense.

I do not foresee a world without BizTalk, but I am excited about the world with options that include BizTalk and Dublin.

If you are looking for more information on Dublin, I have a screen cast available (http://www.biztalkgurus.com/media/p/21919.aspx) and a high level visual review of Dublin (http://www.biztalkgurus.com/blogs/biztalk/archive/2008/11/10/first-look-screen-shots-of-windows-application-server-dublin.aspx) available on my web site.

Stephen W. Thomas
www.BizTalkGurus.com"

Screencast: Content Based Correlation in Workflow 4.0

Stephen W. Thomas — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:23:21 GMT

What is Correlation?

Correlation is when a process sends a message out and that same process is expecting a response to be returned to the same instance of that process. The complexity rises when the messaging patterns become asynchronous or the process becomes long running. Asynchronous and long running processes are a common scenario inside business processes today.

BizTalk Server is great at correlation inside Orchestrations given the publish and subscribe architecture of BizTalk Server. BizTalk supports both system based correlation (based on a Send Port or File Name) and content based correlation using specific values inside the message. Content based correlation fits a greater number of scenarios.

Workflow 4.0 has the ability to do content based correlation and it looks and feels a lot like BizTalk (which is a good thing).

I have put together a short screencast video to walk though setting up content based correction inside Workflow 4.0. To set up content based correlation in Workflow 4.0, you first create a correlation variable of type CorrelationHandle. Then, you set this variable and xpath on the corresponding send and receive shapes. This video takes you through the process step by step.

Watch the video live via Flash or download the Windows Media version.

First Look Screen Shots of Windows Application Server - Dublin

Stephen W. Thomas — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:05:00 GMT

Make sure you check out the video content on Dublin available on BizTalkGurus.com:

First Look at Windows Application Server (Dublin)

Dublin is the code name for the new Windows Application Server components. At the core, Dublin is designed to be a hosting environment for Windows Workflow and Windows Communication Foundation based applications. It integrates into IIS and provides eight new features out of the box.

If you have worked with BizTalk Server 2006 in the past, as we walk through the next few screen shots keep saying to yourself.... "this is not BizTalk this is a new Application". The likeness to BizTalk 2006 will make adoption by fellow BizTalkers straight forward.

Setup and server configuration of Dublin is done though the Windows Application Server Configuration tool. This is seen below.

Drilling down into a specific section on the left (such as Runtime) will show the specific configuration for that item. The look and feel of this configuration is just like it is inside BizTalk Server 2006.

Once setup and configured, Dublin is currently managed though IIS. The picture below shows these eight new features. These are added under the WCF/WF Services section.

We will take a closer look at each new feature.

Application Export - This is used to export an Application. You get a nice simple interface as seen below.

Application Import - This is used to import an Application. You have the ability to configure parameters during import as seen below.

Database Configuration - This is used to configure the default Persistence and Monitoring database for this instance of Dublin.

Diagnostics - This is used to set up Tracing and Message Logging.

Persisted Instances - Clicking the Persisted Instances icon launches the window below. This is an organized view of the count and status of workflows for a given application. All the items listed are links that can be clicked on to drill down into a specific section. This view is just like the BizTalk Server Admin tool.

Services - Based on the selected scope, this will show you the Services inside the Virtual Directory.

From the Services Pane you can drill down into more detail by right-clicking and selecting Persisted Instance from the context menu (this can also be done from within Persisted Instances view above). You have the ability to Suspend, Terminate, Abort, or view Tracking Data about specific instances as seen below.

Selecting View Tracking Data will view available tracking data for this workflow, as seen below. Double clicking on a specific tracking record will give more details on that specific item.

Tracking Configuration - Tracking configuration lists the available profiles that can be applied to an application. Out of the box are three profiles, Basic, Verbose WCF, and Verbose Workflow. In the picture below, BestPetServiceTracking is a custom tracking profile used to track user specific values.

Tracking Profiles - Custom tracking is just a few clicks away inside Dublin. Once a custom tracking profile is created, it can be uploaded and made available to use for tracking. Inside the labs, Microsoft provided a Tracking Profile Editor (just like the one in BizTalk) that can easily create custom tracking profiles based on a workflow.

I hope this gives you a quick overview of Dublin, Microsoft's new Application Server. For anyone that has worked with BizTalk in the past, working with Dublin will come naturally. Enjoy.

First Look Screen Shots of Workflow 4.0

Stephen W. Thomas — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:23:00 GMT

Make sure you check out the video content on Workflow 4.0 available at BizTalkGurus.com:

Consuming WCF Services in Workflow 4.0

Flowcharts and Rules in Workflow 4.0

Windows Workflow 4.0 is a major upgrade to the existing Microsoft workflow technology. As part of this upgrade, the designer has been enhanced to account for new features and increase the developer experience. Below is a screen shot of a basic sequential workflow.

A cool feature, that is not shown here, is the dynamically changing gray arrows. If a new shape is dragged over between the Persist and Delay shape above, the gray arrow would expand.

On the bottom left of the surface is the new Variables window. This somewhat resembles BizTalk's variable experience inside the Orchestration.

The out-of-the-box Activities are a little different as well with some 4.0 additions. Keep in mind this is Beta code so more Activities could be added or removed at any time.

In the list above, you can see a new Flowchart activity. This represents the new flowchart workflow style. The Flow Decision and Flow Switch are part of this new style as well. Below is a completed flowchart workflow.

When working with flowcharts, you drop a Flow Switch (Yellow square with White X above) and draw lines from this shape to others following the path the logic should flow. The Flow Switch behaves similar to a CASE statement.

The above flowchart uses the Workflow 4.0 Rules. A sample rule is below.

Some new enhancements with the WCF and WF interactions now make communication easier. Below is the windows to configure inputs and outputs from a WCF message based Workflow.

One of the best features of Workflow 4.0 is the real-time validation on the variable fields. Inside an Assign shape for example, when you tab out of a cell that variable name is checked to ensure it exist. If not, you get a red X and a pop-up message. Due to my poor spelling, I am sure this will save me countless hours over the years.

Overall I found the new designer easy to use and it made sense to me - mostly due to the likeness to the Orchestration designer in BizTalk.

Hope this post gives you a quick first look at the new Workflow designer. Enjoy.

First Look Screen Shots of Microsoft’s Modeling Platform - Oslo

Stephen W. Thomas — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:34:00 GMT

Make sure you check out the video content on Oslo available on BizTalkGurus.com:

First Look at Quadrant – Oslo’s Modeling Tool

First Look at M – Oslo’s Modeling Language

Oslo is the codename for Microsoft's Modeling Platform. The end goal of Oslo is to increase productivity by promoting the use of model-driven applications.

Oslo is composed of three pieces: a Tool, a Language, and a Repository. In this blog post, I will share some features and screen shots of the tool and language.

The Tool for Oslo is called Quadrant. Quadrant is a universal modeling UI with robust features. The main windows is called a workspace. You can have multiple workspaces open at any given time. Single windows open inside a workspace are called a workpad.

Below is a picture of Quadrant with a workpad open in the workspace.

(Click picture to enlarge)

Quadrant has a top level ribbon bar much like Word. This is shown below.

(Click picture to enlarge)

In the bottom left of the main Quadrant windows, you have an Explorer button and Search Box.

The Explorer window expands as items are selected with the sub-results displayed to the right. A hand with 5 fingers shows how to select items. Scrolling is identified by a mini-scroll bar to the right of the hand. To add new items to the workspace, move to the left icon of the items you want to add. The hand will turn to 3 fingers. Hold the left mouse and drag the items to the workspace. You can also drag-and-drop from the top ribbon bar as shown below.

Many models will have relationships to each other. In these cases, available fields from other models will be show in a populated drop down as seen below.

This should give you a high level overview of the look at feel of Quadrant.

The second key component of Oslo is M - the new Modeling Language. To code in M you use an awesome, lightweight tool called Intellipad. Intellipad with a completed model are shown below.

(Click picture to enlarge)

Looking a little like Wordpad, do not be fooled. This is full featured, complete with red underlines for real time validation.

Going to the M Mode menu on the top toolbar, generating actual SQL based on your model is only a click away. Below, is the same model with a side by side view of the model and the SQL to generate that model inside SQL Server.

(Click picture to enlarge)

Running this model would produce these results inside SQL Server.

One of the core concepts that make up Oslo is the idea to define models using Domain-Specific Language (DSL). In fact, using M you can create you own DSL! Below, you can see how I created a AllMyPets DSL to track the name of my pets.

The third piece of Oslo is the Repository. This repository is a SQL 2008 Database. Using a database as the repository allows for easy access to the stored data and a way to share it. Security, backups, and scaling are all included using SQL Server. This will not be covered in any more detail in this blog post.

Make sure you check out these other Oslo Resources:
Oslo - PDC-08 CSD Bits Review

MSDN Oslo Dev Center

Models Remixed

Videos on Modeling (Oslo), Windows Application Server (Dublin), and .Net 4.0 Workflow

Stephen W. Thomas — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:18:08 GMT

Today is a great day to be a BizTalk Developer! Why? Microsoft has introduced .Net 4.0, Windows Application Server (Dublin), and Microsoft’s Modeling Platform (Oslo). These new technologies compliment the existing Connection System technologies.

As you look though the various technologies one thing is consistent: Take the best things of BizTalk and allow others outside of BizTalk to leverage it!

I’ve put together over an hour of first look videos to help show the new features of Microsoft’s latest offerings.

The following videos are now available on BizTalkGurus.com:

First Look at Windows Application Server (Dublin) – If you do not watch anything else, watch this video! This video takes a look at the new Windows Application Server features. It shows how to export existing applications and import them into another host on another server, how to set variables inside Workflow 4.0 to be tracked, how to create a custom tracking profile, and how to configure your service to use this custom profile. (Download WMV)

First Look at Quadrant – Oslo’s Modeling Tool –This video is a quick overview of the new modeling tool Quadrant. It walks though the basic user experience. It shows how to work with and edit exiting models, drop workpads onto the workflow surface, add and edit data, and edit existing models. (Download WMV)

First Look at M – Oslo’s Modeling Language – This video walks though creating a simple model using the new M Modeling Language. A simple Domain-Specific Language (DSL) model is also looked at. How often do you get to see a new language? (Download WMV)

Consuming WCF Services in Workflow 4.0 – This video takes a quick look at the new designer experience for Workflow 4.0 inside Visual Studios 10. A simple application is created to communicate with an existing WCF Service. This demonstrates the new interface for Workflow and WCF interactions. (Download WMV)

Flowcharts and Rules in Workflow 4.0 – This video walks though creating an application using the new Flowchart style of workflow. Inside the flowchart workflow, the new Workflow 4.0 Rules are used to evaluate input data. (Download WMV)

It is important to point out that these sets of technologies are not designed to replace BizTalk but rather enhance the rest of the framework. BizTalk still serves a mission critical need as the Microsoft Integration Server and Adapter provider.

Have fun and enjoy!

BizTalk 2006 R3 is now BizTalk 2009 & New Roadmap for the Future of BizTalk

Stephen W. Thomas — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:45:55 GMT

Today Microsoft announced an updated Roadmap for BizTalk Server highlighting the next release of BizTalk and outlining plans for future releases every two years.

Included with this is a name change. BizTalk Server 2006 R3 will now be called BizTalk Server 2009.

While most people will see this as a simple name change. What this represents is Microsoft's commitment to BizTalk Server as an Enterprise Class Integration Platform. This new name combined with the forward looking roadmap clearly showcases the future of BizTalk, which until now was a little unclear.

What to expect in the 2009 release of BizTalk:

Support for the latest Microsoft Platforms including Hyper-V Virtualization, Visual Studios 2008, .Net 3.5, SQL 2008, and Windows Server 2008.
Enhancements to SOA and Web Services, B2B Integration, and Developer Productivity.
Additional enhancements driven by customer feedback.

Oliver Sharp talked about a release for BizTalk 2009 in the first half of 2009. He also talked about a CTP release that would be available around the end of the year.

And best yet! We have a new logo for BizTalk Server 2009!

Service Name Not Available and Commerce Server Import Directory BizTalk Issues

Stephen W. Thomas — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:32:15 GMT

Recently I have gotten a rare chance to step away from writing word documents and working with Visio to get to do some exciting BizTalk testing.

As part of my testing, I was pushing BizTalk and various Adapters until they failed. In doing so, sometimes this caused some odd side effects.

Recently, I was seeing thousands of Active Service Instances in BizTalk Administration that looked like this:

The Service Name was simply "Name is not available". To make matters worse, I was not able to terminate the instances. I tried stopping and restarting the hosts, restarting the applications, restarting the Server, but nothing seemed to work.

Out of pure luck, I decided to check the SQL Agent Jobs... and sure enough the SQL Agent was not running. During all my performance testing none of the Message Box clean-up jobs ran and that left BizTalk in an undesirable state. I started the SQL Agent, gave the jobs a few minutes to run, and then was able to clean out the Active service instances.

So the moral of the story, if you see odd BizTalk behavior make sure you check your SQL Agent to ensure it is running and the jobs are completing successfully.

Another minor item I ran into deals with the Commerce Server Catalog Adapter. It has a property called "Import Directory". The Adapter uses this as a temporary file store when submitting messages. This means the BizTalk Host will need read /write access to this location. This is something that can be easily forgotten... like I did.

So what happens if you forget to update this property or to give the folder the correct permissions?

Bad Things. And in BizTalk world, bad things translates into 4 Error Messages per input message in the event log.

Why we get so many errors - I do not know. If I remember correctly, none of them were very useful in correcting the problem.

BizTalk Host Creation and Adapter Assignment Tool Available for Download

Stephen W. Thomas — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:34:21 GMT

What is one of the biggest problems with having to set up BizTalk in a new Environment? Creating all the Hosts, Host Instances, and assigning the Adapters to these new hosts. This process has been made much simpler with the help of the BizTalk Host Setup Tool.

This tool is fed by a configuration file to set up the Hosts, install Host Instances, and assign Adapters to those Hosts. This tool also has the ability to prompt for a user password and reset all the Adapters back to the default Host (this was used extensively when I was testing the tool).

This will allow one developer to create the solution host layout and easily distribute it to others!

How should you set up your Hosts? For starters, you should have a Receive Host, a Send Host, a Process Host, and a Tracking Host. Then, continue to build out the Hosts as needed. In general, it is best for each Adapter to run in its own Host. But I'm a big fan of not taking this to extremes - specifically on single or double server BizTalk installations.

This tool will help you design and build your solutions by making it easy to separate out your processes into multiple hosts even on your developer boxes. It will also make sure all your developers and environments are using Hosts with the same names - a total nightmare to manage.

You can find the download here.

Note: This is intended as a starting point and you are free to build off of it and customize it as needed. It is nothing exciting as I am just wrapping WMI calls with what I hope is more user friendly XML tags. Please remember this and all other code on BizTalkGurus.com is AS-IS and not intended for production use.

I have included two sample config files. The two samples are HostConfig-Demo.xml and HostConfig.xml. Both have comments that should make it easy to figure out what is going on.

I have not tested this tool with remote setups or on anything other than BizTalk 2006 R2 (but anything 2004 to present should work).

Here is a sample of the XML Configuration File:

<BizTalkHostConfig Version="1.0" defaultHost="BizTalkServerApplication" defaultIsoHost="BizTalkServerIsolatedHost">
    <MakeHosts>
        
</BizTalkHostConfig>

Enjoy!