BizTalk R2 RFID and working with a real Reader Device (Phidget)

by | Jun 9, 2007 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

This entry discusses using a real RFID reader (Phidget) with BizTalk 2006 R2 RFID Beta 2. There are a couple of RFID samples provided with the RFID install, but they involve simulators for RFID devices. If you want to try a real RFID reader with BizTalk 2006 R2 RFID, read below.

Jim Bowyer, a Senior Technical Specialist for Microsoft based in Calgary, sent out a short note about an inexpensive RFID reader that has a community DSPI (Device Service Provider Interface)  for BizTalk R2 RFID.

So I ordered the RFID reader, downloaded the DSPI and then tried against my BizTalk 2006 R2 RFID Beta 2 installation.


If you want to try yourself, perform the following steps:


1) If not already done so, register for public BizTalk 2006 R2 Beta 2, then download.
Follow the instructions to install BizTalk RFID.


2) Order the PhidgetsRFID Reader (USB)


I opted to order the Phidget RFID Kit, that includes a set of read only tags.


I live in Toronto, Canada, so the total cost for the RFID kit was:


$79.99 (US)  Kit
$49.74 (US)  Shipping
$11.98 (CAN) Customs Fees
——————-
$141.71


If you live in the States, you will probably get a cheaper total cost, for reduced shipping fees and no customs charges. I ordered the kit online on Friday, and received it the next Tuesday. So approximately 2 Business days for delivery.
 
Below is the image of what you get in the kit:



The left hand side of the picture contains the various RFID tags, and the right side is the actual RFID reader. A USB cable is also included, so you can connect the RFID reader to a free USB port on your computer.


3) Connect the Phidget RFID reader to your computer via the USB cable.


My host machine is Windows XP. The Phidget device was picked up immediately. No extra drivers etc. were needed.


As below, I have BizTalk 2006 R2 Beta 2 and BizTalk RFID installed on a Windows 2003 VMWare image.
So as below, the extra step in this case was to configure the VMWare image to pick up the Phidgets USB device.



4) Download and install the Phidget DSPI from Irving De la Cruz’s Blog 


http://blogs.msdn.com/irvingd/pages/biztalk-rfid-device-provider-dspi-for-phidget-devices.aspx


The instructions provided with the download are top notch and I had it up and running within a few minutes. To install the DSPI, Irving provides a script file
or a well documented manual process using the RFID Manager console. I used the manual process to install and had only a couple of minor problems as described below:


After installing the Phidget Device provider, it would not start (received RFID Manager Error). See below:



During the configuration of Phidget Device provider, a WCF service is created as below:



As below, when trying to browse to one of the services



As below, a Service Unavailable error was reported.




To fix:


On my Windows 2003 Server, WSS (Sharepoint) Services 2.0 was also installed along with RFID.
Therefore as below, I excluded the PhidgetProvider Service from the WSS managed paths.
Also for the PhidgetProvider Service, I changed the Application Pool to one that runs under an Administrator account.
To recap, if you are having problems starting the Phidget Provider, ensure that you can successfully browse without error to one of the
services, before trying to start the Phidget Provider.




After configuring the Sql Sink Process to capture the RFID reads, the process would not start.
As below, another WCF service is installed in IIS. As explained above with the PhidgetProvider service, errors were reported when trying to
browse to one of the TestProcess .svc services. Therefore as above with the PhidgetProvider service, I excluded the TestProcess service from the WSS managed paths
and fiddled with the permissions of the App Pool that the service was running under. When I could successfully browse to one of the .svc TestProcess
services, the TestProcess successfully started in RFID manager.


 


5) Test

As below, to test, you just place one of the tags within a few inches of the reader.



Then as below, to see if it worked, using the RFID manager you can view the tags with the View Tags dialog.




As above in the dialog, each tag has a unique Tag Id associated.


Final thoughts:


– Easy to set up.
– The RFID reader is inexpensive, shipping costs may be expensive though, depending on where you live.
– So far has been stable.
– A great way to prototype/experiment with BizTalk RFID.

BizTalk R2 RFID and working with a real Reader Device (Phidget)

by | Jun 9, 2007 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

This entry discusses using a real RFID reader (Phidget) with BizTalk 2006 R2 RFID Beta 2. There are a couple of RFID samples provided with the RFID install, but they involve simulators for RFID devices. If you want to try a real RFID reader sample with BizTalk 2006 R2 RFID, read below.

Jim Bowyer, a Senior Technical Specialist for Microsoft based in Calgary, sent out a short note about an inexpensive RFID reader that has a community DSPI (Device Service Provider Interface)  for BizTalk R2 RFID.

So I ordered the RFID reader, downloaded the DSPI and then tried against my BizTalk 2006 R2 RFID Beta 2 installation.


If you want to try yourself, perform the following steps:


1) If not already done so, register for public BizTalk 2006 R2 Beta 2, then download.
Follow the instructions to install BizTalk RFID.


2) Order the PhidgetsRFID Reader (USB)


I opted to order the Phidget RFID Kit, that includes a set of read only tags.


I live in Toronto, Canada, so the total cost for the RFID kit was:


$79.99 (US)  Kit
$49.74 (US)  Shipping
$11.98 (CAN) Customs Fees
——————-
$141.71


If you live in the States, you will probably get a cheaper total cost, for reduced shipping fees and no customs charges. I ordered the kit online on Friday, and received it the next Tuesday. So approximately 2 Business days for delivery.
 
Below is the image of what you get in the kit:



The left hand side of the picture contains the various RFID tags, and the right side is the actual RFID reader. A USB cable is also included, so you can connect the RFID reader to a free USB port on your computer.


3) Connect the Phidget RFID reader to your computer via the USB cable.


My host machine is Windows XP. The Phidget device was picked up immediately. No extra drivers etc. were needed.


As below, I have BizTalk 2006 R2 Beta 2 and BizTalk RFID installed on a Windows 2003 VMWare image.
So as below, the extra step in this case was to configure the VMWare image to pick up the Phidgets USB device.



4) Download and install the Phidget DSPI from Irving De la Cruz’s Blog 


http://blogs.msdn.com/irvingd/pages/biztalk-rfid-device-provider-dspi-for-phidget-devices.aspx


The instructions provided with the download are top notch and I had it up and running within a few minutes. To install the DSPI, Irving provides a script file
or a well documented manual process using the RFID Manager console. I used the manual process to install and had only a couple of minor problems as described below:


After installing the Phidget Device provider, it would not start (received RFID Manager Error). See below:



During the configuration of Phidget Device provider, an IIS virtual directory hosting a number of  WCF services is created as below:



As below, when trying to browse to one of the services



A Service Unavailable error was reported (see below)




To fix:


On my Windows 2003 Server, WSS (Sharepoint) Services 2.0 was also present (from a previous install) along with RFID.
Therefore as below, I excluded the PhidgetProvider URL from the WSS managed paths.
Also for the PhidgetProvider Virtual Directory, I changed the Application Pool to one that runs under an Administrator account (just to get it to work). Once this was done, the PhidgetProvider would start in the RFID Manager.
To recap, if you are having problems starting the Phidget Provider, ensure that you can successfully browse without error to one of the
.svc services, before trying to start the Phidget Provider.




Another problem I had similar to the one above:
After configuring the Sql Sink Process to capture the RFID reads (using the BizTalk RFID Manager), the process would not start.
As below, another IIS virtual directory is created hosting a number of WCF services. As explained above with the PhidgetProvider service, errors were reported when trying to
browse to one of the TestProcess .svc services. Therefore as above with the PhidgetProvider URL, I excluded the TestProcess URL from the WSS managed paths
and fiddled with the permissions of the App Pool that the service was running under. When I could successfully browse to one of the .svc TestProcess
services, the TestProcess successfully started in RFID manager.


 


5) Test

After following the instructions in Irving’s documentation, and the Phidget Device Provider, Phidget Device and Process to capture the reads are all enabled and have started successfully without errors (use the BizTalk RFID manager to check):
As below to test, place one of the tags within a few inches of the reader.



Then as below to see if it worked, using the RFID manager you can view the read tags with the View Tags dialog.




As above in the dialog, each tag has a unique Tag Id associated.


Final thoughts:


– Easy to set up.
– The RFID reader is inexpensive, shipping costs may be expensive though, depending on where you live.
– So far has been stable.
– A great way to prototype/experiment with BizTalk RFID and a real RFID device.

Tech Ed Demos for WCF Adapter session and chalk talk

by | Jun 9, 2007 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

For those of you who attended Tech Ed and wanted the demos from the breakout and chalk talk about the WCF adapter, you will find them below. Thanks to all who attended, and enjoy.
Breakout session (445 kb)(Connected Systems application) includes transaction flow example and basic adapter configuration. See the setup folder for db scripts and setup directions.
Chalk Talk (5.5 MB) — includes three demos: BTS as WCF message router, WCF channel extensibilty in BTS (PO + line items = single transaction), and using BizTalk Services in the cloud (multi-cast vendor request). Each demo should have an installer for the BTS portion and other files to update configuration etc.
any questions, just add them in comments on this blog post, or contact me through this blog.

BizTalk Server 2006 Virtual Multi-Box Install Lab

by | Jun 8, 2007 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

I wrote this lab about a year or so ago, with a view to posting it when I got the time. If you want to learn about multi-server installs with BizTalk, it may be a good idea to run through it in a virtual environment first. It will probably take you about half a day to run through the lab, but most of the time will be spent waiting for the various installs to complete.

You can find the lab here.

A new challenge

by | Jun 8, 2007 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

At the end of April I moved from the BizTalk UA team to Windows Server UA team. I have gone from writing content about BAM to working with the documentation for building Cryptographic systems.


When I came to the team my concept of cryptography was limited to the actual encryption of the data. Now that I have been here for a month and a half I have had my eyes opened and I am just beginning to scratch the surface of what a cryptographic system really is. I am working my way through Applied Cryptography by Bruce Schneier, a truly fascinating read.


The major areas of documentation that I now ‘own’ can be found at


http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa380255.aspx and http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa376210.aspx


As to the future of this blog, I would like to accomplish the following:




  • Solicit feedback on new topics that I am working on.


  • Hear about areas in the existing documentation that need improvement


  • Find out about real work applications or the technologies that you would like share that will help others better understand the usages.

Currently we are working toward a monthly refresh cycle on the MSDN docs. So you should see on going improvement in the documentation. One big push that I am working on is getting all the TBD’s eliminated from the existing MSDN documentation.


I look forward to hearing from you.

Certification Mania or What to do with free time at TechEd

by | Jun 8, 2007 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

I’ve never been able to get myself motivated to pursue the Microsoft certifications

in the past, the value proposition for me as a BizTalk Server developer was never

there. First, for a long time there were no BizTalk certifications, and even

once they created such certifications I was never asked about them when pursuing positions.

But

some of that has changed, first I now work for a Microsoft Gold Partner and the more

certified people they have on staff, the easier it is for them to maintain that status.

Secondly I’m currently engaged in some internal planning and as part of that it was

going to be very helpful if I knew just exactly what was required to achieve the BizTalk

certification. Enter TechEd and PearsonVue…

On

Monday and Tuesday at TechEd 2007 I had some free-time, some by choice because none

of the tracks interested me, some because the sessions I wanted to attend were canceled.

PearsonVue had a testing center setup at TechEd and had lowered the exam cost to $50

per test. That was well within the area at which I could “risk” the money on

not passing, so I decided to take 70-235 “Developing Business Process and Integration

Solutions by Using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006”. I’ve been working with BizTalk

Server since 1999 when I was part of an organization doing Alpha and Beta adoption

of BizTalk Server 2000. I know the product very well, but I still expected to

fail because I have always had the impression that the certification exams covered

minutia that you would not encounter in your day to day work with the product.

Apparently I was wrong, I passed the exam and in so doing earned the “MCTS: BizTalk

Server 2006” certification.

So

since I was pleasantly surprised by what was expected for that exam, I decided to

take TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 – Application Development Foundation, which

I also passed. That exam had allot of asynchronous questions on it, but I did

well enough. So since I was now officially on a streak I went and took TS: Microsoft

.NET Framework 2.0 – Distributed Application Development, which I also passed.

That means I’ve also met the qualifications for “MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed

Applications”.

Finally I did take, but not pass, the Web exam as well. It contains two question

areas that I was weak on, and that was my undoing. Specifically it contains

questions on Mobile web development, and “Deployment Scenarios” which are all about

which Wizard/Tool you would use. Since almost all my deployment scenarios for

Web are done manually because I understand what each of the files in the solutions

do, I was weak on the tools which publish/copy your site for you.

All in all, it was a good week, and I’m pleased with the quality of the certifications

from Microsoft. It’s not going to guarantee you an guru, but it will ensure

you’ve got someone competent at the technologies.