by Sandro Pereira | Oct 5, 2017 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
It is not the first time, neither will be the last that I encountered similar problems like this one or the same problem with earlier versions, we call it DLL hell (or nightmare) but I think that all BizTalk Administrator are familiar with it and vaccinated for the problem. Some months ago, while trying to communicate with an Oracle database within Visual Studio in a brand-new BizTalk Server 2016 Developer environment to generate the proper Schemas, we faced with the following Oracle.DataAccess problem:
Error saving properties.
(System.ArgumentException) Invalid binding.
(System.IO.FileNotFoundException) Could not load file or assembly ‘Oracle.DataAccess, Version=4.121.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89b483f429c47342’ or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
Cause
When installing the Oracle WCF Adapter for BizTalk Server 2016 there is a design-time requirement to use Oracle.DataAccess Version 4.121.1.0.
BizTalk Server 2016 requires that specific Oracle.DataAccess version, however, us we were able to very on the GAC, the DLL that existed in our environment had a different version.
Trying to find the correct ODP.NET 11.2.0.1.2 version under Oracle website can be a challenge
Note: depending on the BizTalk Server version that you are using, this the required Oracle.DataAccess version may change.
Solution
Trying to find the correct ODP.NET 11.2.0.1.2 version under Oracle website can be a challenge, so one of the easier and fast ways to solve this problem is using Assembly Binding Redirection in the machine configuration file (Machine.config):
- 32-bit: c:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFramework[version]configmachine.config
- 64-bit: c:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFramework64[version]configmachine.config
Note: You should apply this in both 32 and 64-bit machine configuration files.
By using the <assemblyBinding> Element for <runtime> that will contain all the information about assembly version redirection and the locations of assemblies.
In this case, you should apply the following configurations:
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="Oracle.DataAccess"
publicKeyToken="89b483f429c47342" />
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="4.121.1.0" newVersion="x.xxx.x.x" />
</dependentAssembly>
</assemblyBinding>
</runtime>
By doing this when BizTalk Server will look to the Oracle.DataAccess version which not exists in your environment, it will be redirected to the existing DLL version.
For example, in our case we used:
<!--<runtime />-->
<runtime>
<assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity name="Oracle.DataAccess" publicKeyToken="89b483f429c47342" />
<bindingRedirect oldVersion="4.121.1.0" newVersion="4.121.2.0" />
</dependentAssembly>
</assemblyBinding>
</runtime>
Just to be on the safe side, you should add this configuration in both 32 and 64-bit in .NET Framework 2.0 and 4.0 machine configuration files.
Author: Sandro Pereira
Sandro Pereira lives in Portugal and works as a consultant at DevScope. In the past years, he has been working on implementing Integration scenarios both on-premises and cloud for various clients, each with different scenarios from a technical point of view, size, and criticality, using Microsoft Azure, Microsoft BizTalk Server and different technologies like AS2, EDI, RosettaNet, SAP, TIBCO etc. He is a regular blogger, international speaker, and technical reviewer of several BizTalk books all focused on Integration. He is also the author of the book “BizTalk Mapping Patterns & Best Practices”. He has been awarded MVP since 2011 for his contributions to the integration community. View all posts by Sandro Pereira
by Sandro Pereira | Aug 17, 2017 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
The Consume Adapter Service option from “Add Generated Items…” inside Visual Studio is metadata generation tool (or add-in), included in WCF LOB Adapter SDK, that can be used with BizTalk Projects to allow BizTalk developers to search or browse metadata from LOB adapters and then generate XML Schemas for selected operations inside Visual Studio.
This is a simple sample of the Consume Adapter Service tool to generate XML Schemas for SQL Server operations:
However, recently while I was working in a client development environment with the LOB adapters installed and configured in the environment I notice that the Consume Adapter Service option was missing from “Add Generated Items…” window in Visual Studio
Cause
In our case, indeed we had the LOB adapters installed and configured in the environment, however, we only had the runtime of the WCF LOB Adapter SDK installed, in other words, we didn’t have the WCF LOB Adapter SDK fully installed.
The Consume Adapter Service tool will only be available in your Visual Studio if you install the Tools options from the WCF LOB Adapter SDK. This option will include the Adapter Code Generation Wizard and Visual Studio Addin Components.
Note: Personally, I recommend that you perform a full installation (all components) of the WCF LOB Adapter SDK on BizTalk Server Development environments.
Solution
The solution it is easy for this particular case, you just need to install the WCF LOB Adapter SDK Tools.
To install the WCF LOB Adapter SDK Tools you need:
- Close any programs you have open. Run the BizTalk Server <version> installer as Administrator.
- On the Start page, click “Install Microsoft BizTalk Adapters”
- In the BizTalk Adapter Pack Start page, select the first step “Step 1. Install Microsoft WCF LOB Adapter SDK”. An installer of SDK is launched.
- On the “Welcome to the Windows Communication Foundation LOB adapter SDK Setup Wizard” page, click “Next”
- On the “Change, repair, or remove installation” page, select the “Change” option
-
- On the “Custom Setup” page, make sure that you select the option “Tools” to be installed and click “Next”
Note: Again, I personally recommend that you perform a full installation (all components) of the WCF LOB Adapter SDK on BizTalk Server Development environments.
-
- On the “Ready to change Windows Communication Foundation LOB Adapter SDK Setup” page, click “Change” to begin the installation
After the installation is finished, if you open your BizTalk project solution once again in Visual Studio, you will see that the Consume Adapter Service option will now be available in the “Add Generate Items” window:
- In Visual Studio, in the Project pane, right-click your BizTalk Server project, and then choose Add | Add Generated Items… | Consume Adapter Service.
This problem can happen and the solution is the same for all BizTalk Versions (that contains LOB Adapters).
Author: Sandro Pereira
Sandro Pereira lives in Portugal and works as a consultant at DevScope. In the past years, he has been working on implementing Integration scenarios both on-premises and cloud for various clients, each with different scenarios from a technical point of view, size, and criticality, using Microsoft Azure, Microsoft BizTalk Server and different technologies like AS2, EDI, RosettaNet, SAP, TIBCO etc. He is a regular blogger, international speaker, and technical reviewer of several BizTalk books all focused on Integration. He is also the author of the book “BizTalk Mapping Patterns & Best Practices”. He has been awarded MVP since 2011 for his contributions to the integration community. View all posts by Sandro Pereira
