by community-syndication | Jun 26, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
For those of you who attended my webcast today on workflow communications, the demo code is attached to this post. It includes the base activities used for communication activities (more on these in a later post) and it provides simple example of local communications and web services. The two-way communication activity and sample is also included.
If you are interested in the webcast check here in the next day to two for the OnDemand link.
Enjoy!
Attachment:WFCommunications.zip
by community-syndication | Jun 26, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
During my preparation for my Tech Ed talk on BizTalk Server port binding options, I wanted to write a PowerShell script to help me manage the transitions from one demo to another. For the most part, I was looking for a way to quickly enable / disable receive locations and start / unenlist send ports and orchestrations. All of this is available in WMI, but I wanted to make some reusable functions in PowerShell so I didn't have to drop into WMI each time I wanted to do it. I wanted a simple function I could call like so:
EnableReceiveLocation("MYRL")
It turns out that creating these functions in a script file is relatively easy. One issue I ran into, however, is that transitions for send ports and orchestrations are not as straight forward as they are in the UI. In the UI if a port is unenlisted, I can simply start it. Under the covers, however, the admin tool is actually enlisting and then starting. So, in code, I have to call the operations to both enlist and start. Or, if the port is already enlisted, but not started, then in a function called StartSendPort, I have to just start it. So there is some checking of the current status rather than just blindly wrapping WMI calls. You'll need to check the docs in some situations to get the enum values. I used the hard coded values in my case.
function StartSendPort{
param([string]$portName)
$sp = Get-WmiObject MSBTS_SendPort -n root\MicrosoftBizTalkServer -filter "Name='$portName'"
if($sp -ne $null)
{
if($sp.Status -eq 1 -or $sp.Status -eq 2)
{
if($sp.Status -eq 1)
{
$null = $sp.Enlist()
}
$null = $sp.Start()
Write-Host "Started send port: " + $portName -fore Green
}
else
{
Write-Host "Send port " + $portName + " is already started." -fore Yellow
}
}
else
{
Write-Host "Send port not found" -fore Red
}
}
Where things got a little more challenging was when I wanted to start working with applications. Applications provide a nice way to manage a group of ports by allowing start/stop functionality; unfortunately, the application is not surfaced through WMI. Never fear however, b/c PowerShell is built on top of .NET. All I needed to do was create an instance of the BtsCatalogExplorer class and then I was on my way to managing the applications. But first, I had to load the assembly that included that class. I chose to do that using the path, but strong names works very well too. Then I used the New-Object cmdlet to create an instance and navigate to the application.
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFrom("C:\Program Files\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006\Developer Tools\Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM.dll")
function StopBTSApplication
{
param([string]$appName)
$exp = New-Object Microsoft.BizTalk.ExplorerOM.BtsCatalogExplorer
$exp.ConnectionString = Get-BTSConnectionString
$app = $exp.Applications[$appName]
if($app -eq $null)
{
Write-Host "Application " $appName " not found" -fore Red
}
else
{
if($app.Status -ne 2)
{
#full stop of application
$null = $app.Stop(63)
$null = $exp.SaveChanges()
Write-Host "Stopped application: " $appName
}
}
}
And, because I was trying not to hard code too much, I create the connection string using WMI to get the group settings.
function Get-BTSConnectionString
{
$group = Get-WmiObject MSBTS_GroupSetting -n root\MicrosoftBizTalkServer
$dbName = $group.MgmtDBName
$server = $group.MgmtDBServerName
[System.String]::Concat("server=", $server, ";database=", $dbName, ";Integrated Security=SSPI")
}
Notice that I simply execute the Concat to get the connection string, and because this results in a new string, that value is returned to the pipeline and available to be set in a variable or used in a cmdlet.
I'm loving the stuff I can do with PowerShell and feel like I'm just scratching the surface. Hope this helps someone else get a jumpstart as well. I've attached the PowerShell file with my functions included.
Attachment: BizTalk_PowerShell.ps1.txt
by community-syndication | Jun 26, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
Mostly this post is here to motivate me to actually get this book done ASAP –
http://www.amazon.com/RESTful-NET-Jon-Flanders/dp/0596519206/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214538175&sr=1-2
Yes – I am writing a book on WCF and REST. Not a big suprise 😉
Check out my BizTalk
R2 Training.
by community-syndication | Jun 26, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
still going on
Check out my BizTalk
R2 Training.
by community-syndication | Jun 26, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these two diagrams (courtesy & copyright Microsoft) are worth millions! At least they are to anyone desperate to understand how the BizTalk Accelerator for RosettaNet (BTARN 3.5) really works.
Initiator Message Flow
Don’t let the complexity of this diagram scare you. The message flow for an outbound RNIF (or PIDX) message consists of four key areas.
- The SQL Server BTARN Databases where all “lob” messages (such as a P21 – PIDX Invoice) and any attachments are stored BEFORE the outbound RNIF message flow actually begins, and the SQL Receive Location used to process the message content and attachments into the MessageBox.
Note: If you’re not sending attachments you may elect not to use SQL for this and can substitute FILE receive locations. The SDK contains sample code and a pretty good explanation of how this may work.
- The Initiator Private Process orchestration where the actual messages and attachments are “prepared” (usually transformed into XML) for further processing by the initiator public process.
- The Initiator Public Process orchestration where the outbound message is actually formatted to meet the RNIF standard. This includes adding the required RNIF headers and other such tasks. Consider this a “Black Box” since you can’t change how this works without invalidating the RosettaNet certification.
- The HTTP/HTTPS Send Ports and the RNIFSend.aspx web application that are CRITICAL to the correct processing of the outbound messages. This is where the real work is done to validate the messages, create the correct MIME headers and add the required RNIF DOCTYPE declarations.
Just a side note. If you’re really interested in how this all works, you can look at the source code for this web application using Lutz Roeder’s Reflector. I think you’ll be amazed at how much Regex is used to “craft” these RNIF messages.
Responder Message Flow
The message flow for an inbound RNIF message (whether it’s a new message or an asynchronous response to a message you’ve already sent) consists of three key areas.
- The RNIFReceive.aspx web application which processes the inbound message, validates it and then removes all the RNIF specific headers and DOCTYPE declarations. This then passes the message along to the HTTP/HTTPS Receive Port and Pipeline which handles the non-repudiation, decodes the message, parses the message and resolves which Party it came from.
- The Responder Public Process receive the RNIF message from the MessageBox and extracts the content and attachments and sends them to the responder private process for further processing. Just like the initiator public process, the Responder Public Process should be considered a “Black Box” and left unchanged.
- The Responder Private Process then routes the inbound messages and any attachments to the SQL Server BTARN Databases where it can be further processed and sent to some “lob” back-end system.
There are a few other details involved in the message flow (signals) depending upon whether your transmission is synchronous or asynchronous, but the basics are fairly straight-forward. The best thing is that this workflow is almost entirely “configured” using the BTARN Management Console and is “message agnostic”, meaning that you can use any standard RNIF, CIDX or PIDX “PIP” (Partner Interface Process) that you and your trading partner both support.
Best of all, it’s included in the price of BizTalk Server 2006 R2!
Currently listening to Carrie Underwood’s Carnival Ride
by community-syndication | Jun 26, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
Here’s a sample PowerShell script/functions to start/stop BizTalk orchestrations.
This is an extended version of the Stop-Orchestration VBScript included in the BizTalk
2006 SDK, which I hope someone finds useful 
.
The script can be used to start or stop either a specific orchestration or a group
of orchestrations defined in a BizTalk assembly. For example, to stop and unenlist
all orchestrations in a given assembly, you could use this:
stop-orch -assembly 'MyProject.BizTalk,
Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=50b7b2906e3f8aa5' -unenlist
Here’s the code for the script:
$script:bound = 2
$script:started = 4
$script:controlRecvLoc = 2
$script:controlInst = 2
function script:get-assemblyfilter([string]$assembly)
{
$parts = $assembly.Split((',', '='))
$filter = "AssemblyName='$($parts[0])'"
if ( $parts.Count
-gt 1 ) {
for ( $i=1; $i -lt $parts.Count; $i += 2 )
{
$filter = "$filter
and Assembly$($parts[$i].trim())='$($parts[$i+1])'"
}
}
return $filter
}
function script:find-orch([string]$name, [string]$assembly)
{
$filter = ""
if ( ![String]::IsNullOrEmpty($name)
) {
$filter = "Name='$name'"
if ( ![String]::IsNullOrEmpty($assembly)
) {
$filter = "$filter
and $(get-assemblyfilter $assembly)"
}
} else {
$filter = $(get-assemblyfilter $assembly)
}
get-wmiobject MSBTS_Orchestration `
-namespace 'root\MicrosoftBizTalkServer' `
-filter $filter
}
function start-orch([string]$name, [string]$assembly)
{
$orch = (find-orch $name $assembly)
$orch | ?{ $_.OrchestrationStatus
-eq $bound } |
%{
write-host "Enlisting
$($_.Name)..."
[void]$_.Enlist()
}
$orch | ?{ $_.OrchestrationStatus
-ne $started }
| %{
write-host "Starting
$($_.Name)..."
[void]$_.Start($controlRecvLoc, $controlInst)
}
}
function stop-orch([string]$name, [string]$assembly, [switch]$unenlist = $false)
{
$orch = (find-orch $name $assembly)
$orch | ?{ $_.OrchestrationStatus
-eq $started }
| %{
write-host "Stopping
$($_.Name)..."
[void]$_.Stop($controlRecvLoc, $controlInst)
if ( $unenlist )
{
[void]$_.Unenlist()
}
}
}
BizTalk
Server 2006, PowerShell
by Richard | Jun 26, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
I have a old post on removing XML namespace from outgoing messages using XSLT in a map on the send port. Removing XML namespace is usually a late requirement that shows up during integration tests with for example legacy systems that has problems reading XML and only finds XML namespaces messy and confusing and wants it removed.
The post recently got commented by Jeff Lynch (one of the codebetter.com bloggers) asking me why I just didn’t create a schema without any XML namespace in it to represent the outgoing schema (see figure below) and then map to that in the send port.
Say for example that we have incoming messages like the one below with namespaces.
<div><span style="color: #0000FF; "><</span><span style="color: #800000; ">ns0:BlahRoot </span><span style="color: #FF0000; ">xmlns:ns0</span><span style="color: #0000FF; ">="http://Sample.BlahIncomingSchema"</span><span style="color: #0000FF; ">></span><span style="color: #000000; ">
</span><span style="color: #0000FF; "><</span><span style="color: #800000; ">BlahNode</span><span style="color: #0000FF; ">></span><span style="color: #000000; ">Test Value</span><span style="color: #0000FF; "></</span><span style="color: #800000; ">BlahNode</span><span style="color: #0000FF; ">></span><span style="color: #000000; ">
</span><span style="color: #0000FF; "></</span><span style="color: #800000; ">ns0:BlahRoot</span><span style="color: #0000FF; ">></span></div>
We’ve then defined a schema without namespace and map to that and get the following result.
<div><span style="color: #0000FF; "><</span><span style="color: #800000; ">BlahRoot</span><span style="color: #0000FF; ">></span><span style="color: #000000; ">
</span><span style="color: #0000FF; "><</span><span style="color: #800000; ">BlahNode</span><span style="color: #0000FF; ">></span><span style="color: #000000; ">Test Value</span><span style="color: #0000FF; "></</span><span style="color: #800000; ">BlahNode</span><span style="color: #0000FF; ">></span><span style="color: #000000; ">
</span><span style="color: #0000FF; "></</span><span style="color: #800000; ">BlahRoot</span><span style="color: #0000FF; ">></span></div>
This method is of course much cleaner then any previous and it’s also more conceptually correct as the schema actually represents the contact between BizTalk and the receiving system (the contract is a message without namespace in it, not one with that we then remove).
The only problem with this kind of approach is that as BizTalk recognized the message type using a combination between root node and XML namespace we can’t have another schema with the BlahRoot root node without a defined XML namespace. Even if those two schemas would look totally different in structure and be two different message types BizTalk would be able to see the difference (to BizTalk they both be #BlahRoot message types).
Thanks Jeff for pointing this out to me.
by community-syndication | Jun 26, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
I have a old post on removing XML namespace from outgoing messages using XSLT in a map on the send port. Removing XML namespace is usually a late requirement that shows up during integration tests with for example legacy systems that has problems reading XML and only finds XML namespaces messy and confusing and wants […]
by community-syndication | Jun 25, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
Proof is in the popping – http://labmylife.blogspot.com/2008/06/you-can-cook-your-brain-with-cell.html
Think of your ear/brain/head/eye in this space…….
On the lines of mobile phones – a while ago I decided to check out my latest phone
and how much ‘energy’ it gave out
(you know – hot handset, hot ear etc after been talking on it for a while)
As I found out – as part of Govt. regulations there’s some one who set a number/limit
on this energy at 1.6. (for Australia)
The ‘energy’ reading is known as ‘Specific Absorbtion Rate’ (SAR) rating.
Check more out here:
http://www.sarvalues.com/what-is-sar.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/07/12/1152637733291.html
When this stuff comes out – there’s always the 2 main camps, ones that say ‘yes’ it
does and others that say ‘what a joke’.
(we then recite – high voltage power lines, lukemia and the classic was smoking ads
back in the 50s that state all the medicinal benefits of smoking. Big full page ads
but a few years later we know more about smoking…)
Lately here we have several top neuro surgeons throwing their mobiles out, due to
the amazing increase in the number of brain tumours they treat – especially on the
‘preferred ear’.
So I figured that I’d go looking…..
…I went to the manufacturers website and I was able to get 63 properties and details
about the phone. Battery life; bands; standby; talk time; features; dimensions etc…….
….but…..
….NO SARs number…..
….after doing a couple of web searches…..my phone comes out at 1.4 (the
website also tells me that in the current phone market, 95% of all mobiles are better
than mine!!!)
Interesting to say the least!
by community-syndication | Jun 25, 2008 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
I was tagged by Scott – here we go:
How old were you when you started programming?
I was probably 11 or 12. I had a Commodore Vic 20 🙂
What was your first language?
Basic.
What was the first real program you wrote?
I wrote a program on my Vic20 to generate Dungeon and Dragons characters.
What was your first professional programming gig?
I build an ASP web site for the University of Minnesota Law School
What’s the most fun you’ve ever had…programming?
Hmm – this is pretty hard. I think the most fun I’ve ever was last fall I got
hired to prototype something and what I ended up doing totally exceeded the expectations
of the people who asked me to build it. It was fun making it work and then fun
seeing the reactions.
I choose to tag no one (stopping the meme from my part of the tree ;-)).
Check out my BizTalk
R2 Training.
