"Oslo"==SOA++?

by community-syndication | Oct 30, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

In my last post I wrote "Oslo" == Windows Registry++, to describe the simplicity of "Oslo". I also said "the simplicity of "Oslo" is what makes up its complexity".

SOA has different impact upon different roles within an organization. But if you would be a "Process Developer", you would have this "toolbox of services", which you could reuse when creating your processes. One could imagine such a tool being Visio, and where you'd find the publicly exposed service in some toolbox window, and you could drag these services to the process surface to compose the content of the process. So far these services has been more or less the endpoints of those services.

-Now, imagine the Repository of "Oslo" being the source of that toolbox window. -But hey, the repository stores much more then endpoints, right…It stores models of endpoints, services, workflow's or your custom processes etc. These could all be reused across your organization.

Does this mean Models == Service or perhaps SOA has grown to MO or MOA? And another thing that will blow your mind, put your Repository in Windows Azure, and share your models across organization boundaries …

BTW…The slogan for PDC 2008 was "Think WAY out side the box"

Using BizUnitExtensions to poke around in some XML

by community-syndication | Oct 30, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

I’ll start by saying that I really (like in "really, really!") like BizUnit! BizUnit in combination with MSBuild, NUnit and CruiseControl.NET has really changed the way work and how I feel about work in general and BizTalk development in particular.
If you haven’t started looking into what for example MSBuild can do you for you […]

Oslo, WCF, WF & Dublin PDC Bits Review Article

by community-syndication | Oct 30, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

Adapter Pack v2 – CTP4 !!

by community-syndication | Oct 30, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

Adapter Pack CTP 4  is here and we have added a lot more features based on some feedback we have been getting from various channels. So here is the list of major enhancements

SQL adapter

• Support for “for xml” style procedures used commonly with v1 SQL adapter

Oracle EBS Adapter – support for

• Request Sets


• Selecting Application Context using BizTalk Message Context Properties


• Oracle EBS installations with Multi language systems


•  Windows integrated authentication of the DB user


• Setting Print/Repeat/General options and submitting the request in a single operation for Request Sets and Concurrent Programs

As always, if you want to try this CTP  you need to join the TAP(Technology Adoption Program). You can see the details for joining TAP here .  Feedback is welcome and please write back to us on the forums or on the blogs to let us know what you think about the latest Adapter Pack  releases.

Thanks

Vivek Krishna

Oslo, Dublin, and .Net 4.0 First Look Videos

by community-syndication | Oct 30, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

To help get everyone up to speed on the new Microsoft Offerings, I’ve put together over an hour of first look videos to help show the new features and walk though the new UI’s.

The following videos are now live on BizTalkGurus.com:

First Look: Windows Application Server -Dublin – If you do not watch any other video, watch this one! This video takes a look at the new Windows Application Server. (Download WMV)

First Look: Quadrant – Oslo’s Modeling Tool -This video is an overview of the new modeling tool Quadrant that is used with Microsoft’s Modeling Platform Oslo. (Download WMV)

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

Consuming WCF Services in Workflow 4.0 – This video takes a look at the new designer experience for Workflow 4.0 inside Visual Studios 10 and shows how to consume a WCF Service inside Workflow 4.0. (Download WMV)

Flowcharts and Rules in Workflow 4.0 – This video walks though creating an application using the Flowchart style of workflow and shows how to use Rules. (Download WMV)

It is important to point out that these new and enhanced technologies are not going to replace BizTalk. The are intended to enhance the rest of the framework. BizTalk Server will still serve a mission critical need as Microsoft’s Integration Server.

Have fun!

Hotfix list for the Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack (and related scenarios)

by community-syndication | Oct 30, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

As and when we release newer hotfixes, I will edit this post.

Hotfix list for the Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack V1

Hotfix list for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 R2

Keep an Eye on PDC 08 here

by community-syndication | Oct 30, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

Hi guys – there’s a bunch of stuff going on right now at PDC 08 in LA.

What’s hot:

(If you’re on a PDA/Mobile – grab a the PDC from here – http://www.microsoftpdc.com/mobile/)

• Here’s a select set of recorded sessions up on Channel 9– http://channel9.msdn.com/tags/PDC08/ 
• OSLO

  Oslo” is the code name for our platform for model-driven applications. The goal of
  “Oslo” is to provide a 10x productivity gain by making model-driven applications mainstream
  with domain-specific models, languages and tools.
  

• Public Oslo(BizTalk vNext next) Site – http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/oslo/default.aspx
• Oslo Downloads here – http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/oslo
  
  
• WCF ‘REST’ Services
• MSDN WCF REST-ful Starter Site – http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/netframework/cc950529.aspx
• I’ve got no idea what REST is –REST
  WIKI, A
  great article outlining REST
• WCF REST Starter Kit(on CodePlex at the moment) – http://www.codeplex.com/aspnet/Wiki/View.aspx?title=WCF%20REST

So if you can’t sleep then there’s going to be some interesting reading coming up
for us all. 🙂

Enjoy.

Debugging an ASP.NET Server control at Design Time

by community-syndication | Oct 30, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

I was having trouble with a custom ASP.NET 3.5 server control.  It was getting a run time error as I dropped it on the winform.  The problem was a bit tricky to debug but this article got me going.  The article is written for VS 2005, but it worked for me with VS 2008.

"Oslo"==Windows Registry(++)?

by community-syndication | Oct 29, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

So finally, Microsoft revealed "Oslo". There has been so much rumors about what it is. Starting of at the SOA & BPM conference last year, "Oslo" was to be the next generation of BizTalk. For some time now, it's been clear that this was not to be the case. But what is it then?

This question was the main reason why I attended the PDC this year. However, I left the first "Oslo" session even more confused then was before attending it. The main reason for this was probably that I created my own expectations about what it would be.

I've now attended five "Oslo" sessions, along with several discussions with the team members, and I believe I finally understand the concept. You see, the simplicity of "Oslo" is what makes up its complexity. Once you understand it, you'll find endless possibilities where to use it, or at least where Microsoft will be using  it.

So "Oslo" is three things:

1. "Repository" the store
2. "Quadrant" the tool
3. "M" the language

To explain this in a (much) simplified way, think of it as:

1. A Registry like we have today, but to which you can store user defined types and models (not only string, binary, DWORD and QWORD)
2. Regedit(++), from which you can view and edit the types and models from the Registry
3. A language which describes the models, in the same way as xaml describes a workflow.

WHAT! THAT'S IT????

-Well, add to that; "Oslo" ships with lots of models, such as System.Workflow, System.ServiceModel and many more. This will give you ONE store (SQL db) from which you can find all your workflows and WCF endpoint configuration!!

And you can of course create your own models, say a Process model, which would have a number of workflows, with any number of endpoints… You really need to poke "Oslo" with your own ideas to grasp this magnitude of this.

In the current bits, you can create your workflow from within Quadrant and export it to Dublin – Darren Jefford. I'm willing to bet that, in the future, we'll see it the other way around. That we will from Dublin, point to the Repository, to get the xaml and endpoint configuration. No more .config files!

Working Paper #666

by community-syndication | Oct 29, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

Recently, in one of the current economic crisis disccusions, I saw a link to a Working Paper #666 from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. At first I thought it’s a prank. Well, the number alone sounds like some dark humor. Nope. It was not. I went through the link http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=4062, yeah, really, the site truly belongs to one of the FRS members. For reference, “FRS member” is not any FDIC insured bank, it’s one of the very few banks which _ARE_ FRS. And, yes, before this working paper, there are working papers 662, 663, 664, and 665. I guess, just a coincidence. And the actual paper refers to the actual FRS site and their official published data at http://federalreserve.gov/releases/h8/ I checked, yes, it looks like data there really confirm what the paper says…

To be fair, the paper does not argue that US has a financial crisis or likely to get a recession soon. However, it doubts a few statements that were used widely since the crisis was acknowledged. Specifically:

1. Bank lending to nonfinancial corporations and individuals has declined sharply.


2. Interbank lending is essentially nonexistent.


3. Commercial paper issuance by nonfinancial corporations has declined sharply, andrates have risen to unprecedented levels.


4. Banks play a large role in channeling funds from savers to borrowers. 

And once you check the data (again, from the Federal Reserve System site) it really looks like all these statements are false. Credits even increased a bit, interbank credit is about on the same level, commercial papers by nonfinancial corporations are issued as usual at the same rate, in fact, even commercial paper by financial institutions albeit diminished and now at a higher rate, still not reached the rate of 2006. And, most of nonfinancial corporations debt (~80%) are commercial papers bought directly by savers, not banks. Oops…

Wait a minute… Aren’t those the same statements that were trumpeting the Doom and forced Senate and Congress to get American taxpayers into $700 bln debt despite tons of calls, letters and faxes of voters demanding not to do so?

What is this? Secretary of Treasure being clueless? Who is lying? Or did we got another PR campaign like in 2001? “Wag the Dog“?

I specially like the conclusion of the report:

Our analysis is based on publicly available data. Policymakers have access to other sources of data as well. Policymakers could well believe that bold action is necessary based on data that are different from that considered here. If so, responsible policymaking requires that they share both the data and the analysis that underlies the need for bold policy with the public.

—
Free-form translated from my Russian blog…