BizTalk Server 2010 + WF/WCF - Are they better together?

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Today's featured article is BizTalk + WF/WCF, Better Together  from Trace Young.

 

BizTalk Server 2010

Summary

All versions of BizTalk Server use a publish/subscribe messaging engine architecture. In a publish/subscribe architecture, all messages that flow through BizTalk Server are first published to the MessageBox database and subsequently picked up by Send Ports, Receive Ports, or Orchestrations that are decorated with matching subscription information. One of the primary advantages of a publish/subscribe architecture is that receiving of messages is loosely coupled from sending of messages and messages can be published even if there are no subscribers available to process messages when they are published.Other advantages include the ability to track message properties, messages bodies, and to resubmit messages that initially failed delivery to subscribers.

Figure - BizTalk Server Publish Subscribe architecture

As a taste of the article, we'll take you through one of the many steps of building a WCF solution...

Create variables to contain the SQL query results and BizTalk Map output

  1. Click Variables in the bottom right-hand corner of the Designer to invoke the Create Variableoption in the Designer.

  2. Click Create Variable to display a row in the Designer that accepts inputs for Name, Variable type, Scope, and Default. Create two variables with the following values:

    Name Variable Type Scope Default
    data1 Click to select Array of <T> and from the Select Types dialog box browse to select the Type Name: of schemas.microsoft.com.Sql._2008._05.Types.Tables.dbo.Customers Leave at default value Leave at default value
    data2 Click to select Array of <T> and from the Select Types dialog box browse to select the Type Name: of schemas.microsoft.com.Sql._2008._05.Types.Tables.dbo.Customers2 Leave at default value Leave at default value
     

After creating the variables data1 and data2 the Designer should look as follows:

Figure – Variables defined in the Visual Studio 2010 Designer

Find the other 5 instructions and a lot more here in the Wiki article:

BizTalk + WF/WCF, Better Together

 

Have a great new year! And remember to Wiki while you work! (Or maybe when you're not working.)

   - Ninja Ed