Service Bus Explorer 2.3 and 2.1 improved version now available

I just released an improved version of the Service Bus Explorer 2.1 and a new version (2.3) of the tool based on the Microsoft.ServiceBus.dll 2.3.2.0.

The zip file contains:

  • The source code for the Service Bus Explorer 2.3.2.0. This version of the tool uses the Microsoft.ServiceBus.dll 2.3.2.0 that is compatible with the current version of the Windows Azure Service Bus, but not with the Service Bus 1.1, that is, the current version of the on-premises version of the Service Bus.
  • The Service Bus Explorer 2.1.3.0. This version can be used with the Service Bus 1.1. The Service Bus Explorer 2.1 uses the Microsoft.ServiceBus.dll client library which is compatible with the Service Bus for Windows Server 1.1 RTM version, but not with the 1.1 Beta version or the Service Bus for Windows Server 1.0. For this reason, for those of you that are still using the Service Bus for Windows Server version 1.0, I included the old version (1.8) of the Service Bus Explorer in a zip file called 1.8 which in turn is contained in the zip file of the current version. The old version of the Service Bus Explorer uses the Microsoft.ServiceBus.dll 1.8 which is compatible with the Service Bus for Windows Server. For those of you that are instead using the Service Bus for Windows Server 1.1 Beta, you can download the Service Bus Explorer 2.0 from my SkyDrive.
  • The Service Bus Explorer 1.8. This version can be used with the Service Bus 1.0

This version introduces the following features:

  • Improved support for AMQP transport protocol in the Connect Form. For example, when using the Service Bus Explorer to connect to an on-premises namespace, if you select AMQP as Transport Type in the Connect Form, the tool automatically changes the value of the TransportType and RuntimePort parameters:
    • NetMessaging: RuntimePort=9354;TransportType=NetMessaging
    • AMQP: RuntimePort=5671;TransportType=Amqp
  • Added support for the stsEndpoint parameter in the connection string for cloud namespaces. This feature was specifically requested by the Service Bus team.
  • The tool can now use the AMQP transport protocol to read messages from queues, subscriptions and deadletter queues.
  • Added full support to namespace-level SAS connection strings, both in the configuration file and Connect Form.
  • Changed Receive label into Receive and Delete in the ReceiveModeForm to make it clear that the receive operation deletes messages from the underlying queue, subscription or deadletter queue.
  • Fixed a bug when reading messages from the deadletter queue of a queue or subscription.
  • Fixed a bug in the SelectEntityForm: replaced TreeView.TopNode with TreeView.Nodes[0]
  • Implemented support for the new ForwardDeadLetteredMessagesTo property of the QueueDescription and SubscriptionDescription classes.

  • Implemented batching support in the listener for queues and subscriptions. You can now specify a value for the PrefetchCount property used by the MessageReceiver object used by the listener to prefetch multiple messages from a queue or subscription. This greatly improves the overall performance of the listener. Now you can also specify the value for the Mode property of the the MessageReceiver object used by the listener.

To enable or disable this feature, you can use the showMessageCount setting in the configuration file, or use the new Show Message Count checkbox in the Options Form as shown in the picture below.

  • As shown in the figure below, numbers in the property list of queues, topics, subscriptions, and notification hubs are now formatted to make it easier to read their value.

  • Replaced the logo to reflect the recent change of name from Windows Azure to Microsoft Azure.