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BizTalk Distilled

Sharing the defining moments
cannot create BizTalk 2009 projects in Visual Studio 2008?
I got a query from another customer with regards to this - this has nothing to do with BizTalk 2009 - check if you installed the VS after BizTalk server? You need to install VS before BizTalk. Alternatively, you could choose to install the Developer tools & SDK section of the BizTalk server components again from the media kit for BizTalk server (you may have to un-install this component first and then re-install OR Repair as suggested by Thiago)
BAM_DM_ResendJournalActivity error on BizTalk 2009 Re-install?

Remove the 2 DTS packages: EDIReportingActivityDefs & AS2ReportingActivityDefs from the bm.exe command line which do not get automatically removed when you un-install the previous version:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009\Tracking>bm.exe remove-all -DefinitionFile:"C:\Program Files\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009\EDIReportingActivityDefs.xml"

C:\Program Files\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009\Tracking>bm.exe remove-all -DefinitionFile:"C:\Program Files\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009\AS2ReportingActivityDefs.xml"

SOA & BizTalk book

Folks,

I have been getting a fair few queries regarding books on SOA & BizTalk. Richard Seroter has released a new book on this front called “SOA Patterns with BizTalk Server 2009”. Check this out as it helps you to implement SOA strategies for BizTalk Server solutions. For more information visit: http://www.packtpub.com/soa-patterns-with-biztalk-server-2009/book

Farpoint releases BizTalk 2009 compliant Excel adapter

Folks, Just heard from Farpoint that their Excel adapter now supports BizTalk 2009 & VS 2008:

http://www.fpoint.com/biztalk/default.aspx

Oslo 101 - Building your first 'Hello World' in "Oslo"

Folks, now that we have the "Oslo" May CTP (you can download them here), let’s get started on this exciting new platform end-to-end. You'd be surprised that all you need today is SQL 2008 Express or above (except SQL Server CE). Follow the instructions  here (and keep the default names as is e.g. keep the Name of the Repository as "Repository", Target DB Server as ".", etc.). Once you're happy with the installation, fire up the "Intellipad" (which should be visible from your Start button otherwise find it under \program files\Microsoft Oslo\1.0\bin) - welcome to the new world! Let’s start building our first "Oslo" Model with the brand new "M" language (this is the code name that would most likely change when "Oslo" actually lands).

1)       In our “Intellipad”, let’s create a module called "OsloWorld.Org" where we are modeling any organization (by the way, a module structure in “Oslo” is mandatory and is the basic container that contains a set of related types and scopes out in the same way as Namespace does in C#):

 

module OsloWorld.Org

{

}

 

Save this file as “OsloWorld” in your new folder C/:OsloWorld and choose the type as “M source file “*.m”). Note: as soon as you save the file, you’ll see a new Menu item pop up on your “Intellipad” called “M Mode”. Click on this and select T-SQL Preview. On your right you’ll eventually see a dynamically generated SQL that is mapped to this “M” sourcecode (WOW!). However at this time, you’ll not see much except “Unable to generate SQL..” as there is nothing to compute anyway.

 

2)       Let’s now declare an extent called Employees that represent the OsloWorld. In the extent declaration , we are saying that Employees are made up of a collection of 0 or more Employee which shortly we’ll define in our type declaration

 

module OsloWorld.Org

{

                  Employees: Employee*;

}

 

You will see a compilation error on your T-SQL on the right pane as we have not yet declared what Employee type is.

3)       Let’s now define the Employee type as follows:

module OsloWorld.Org

{

Employees: Employee*;

   

type Employee {

                                    EmpID: Integer32 => AutoNumber();

                           } where identity (EmpID);

}

What we’ve done is added the type declaration that syas EmpID is of the type integer and will automatically be generated for us and this field also acts as a primary key. Take note that on the right pane, the dynamic T-SQL generates those constraints automatically!

 

4)       Now we add a few more fields with more constraints (that are self-explanatory) that you can also see them appear in the right pane on the T-SQL

 

module OsloWorld.Org

{

Employees: Employee*;

 

type Employee {

EmpID: Integer32 => AutoNumber();

EmpName: Text where value.Count < 30;

EmpAge: Integer32 where value < 150;

Sex: Text where value.Count < 2;

} where identity (EmpID);

}

 

5)       Let’s add one more field in the end which kind of connects the organizational structure i.e. have another field called ReportsTo. This field is of the type Employee but could be null. This extent is represented as ReportsTo: Employee? And lets add one more constraint to this that this Employee should belong to the Employees. So the entire module looks like:

 

module OsloWorld.Org

{

    Employees: Employee*;

   

    type Employee {

        EmpID: Integer32 => AutoNumber();

        EmpName: Text where value.Count < 30;

        EmpAge: Integer32 where value < 150;

        Sex: Text where value.Count < 2;

        ReportsTo: Employee? where value in Employees;

    } where identity (EmpID);

}

 

Let’s now compile our Model. Go to the command window and set the path to point to the bin dir of Oslo:

set PATH=%PATH%;"%PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Oslo\1.0\bin"

 When we compile the “.m” model file with “m.exe”, we get the image file with extension  “.mx”. This image file contains the generated SQL and related manifest & other metadata. So here is the command for the compilation:

m.exe OsloWorld.m /p:image

Once we’ve compiled the “.m” file into the image file – check the directory for OsloWorld.mx file that was output. All you need to do now is install this image onto the Repository with the following loader utility (mx.exe):

mx.exe install OsloWorld.mx -d Repository

Now that you’ve installed the image onto the repository, lets fireup the “Quadrant” to interact with the Models. Go to the Menu: View -> Explorer -> Repository. On the left pane, click to expand Catalog and then expand the OsloWorld.Org. You will see the Employees appear under the OsloWorld.Org. Drag and drop the Employees to the Design Pane. Click on the Employees workpad and then on the "Quadrant" Menu, click on Edit -> Insert Item. Enter the first row (Note that EmpID of 1 has already been populated for you by the autonumber). Enter an employee name, age, sex and leave the ReportsTo field as null). Click on the commit row. Your first Oslo Model has one instance stored in the Repository! You can enter a second row now and choose different names, etc. when you click on the ReportsTo field, you will see a small down arrow appear and choose the first employee as the ReportsTo person. Keep typing more employees till you are happy that a substantial hierarchy has been reached. Now on the Employees workpad, click on the Table ->  Tree and check out the Tree view of the organization!

Useful "Oslo" links - including May CTP download
Folks, there are some excellent resources (now public) on this website. This is where we are heading with our Modeling Platform so go grab the CTP and start playing around.
BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 Lands!
Folks, This has just been released today so go get this and start playing... The brand new BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 provides key building blocks that are required for implementing a comprehensive service-oriented infrastructure (SOI) including:
  • Endpoint run-time discovery and virtualization.
    The service consumer does not need to be aware of the service provider location and endpoint details; a new or modified service provider can be added to the ESB, without interruptions to the service consumer.
  • Loosely coupled service composition.
    The service provider and service consumer do not need to be aware of service interaction style.
  • Dynamic message transformation and translation.
    The mapping definition between distinct message structure and semantics is resolved at run time.
  • Dynamic routing.
    Run-time content-based, itinerary-based, or context-based message routing.
  • Centralized exception management.
    Exception management framework, services, and infrastructure elements that make it possible to create, repair, resubmit, and compensate fault messages that service consumers or BizTalk components submit.
  • QOS (Quality of service.)
    An asynchronous publish/subscribe engine resolves different levels of service availability and provides high availability, scalability, and message traceability for ESB implementations.
  • Protocol transformation.
    Providing the ability for service provider and service consumer to interact via different protocols including WS-* standards for Web Services. For example, a service provider can send an HTTP Web Service request, which will result in sending a message via the BizTalk SAP adapter.
  • Extensibility.
    Providing multiple extensibility points to extend functionality for endpoint discovery, message routing, and additional BizTalk Server adapters for run time and design time.

How to get started?

QuickLearn's BizTalk Course on 15th June in Melbourne

Hi Folks,

Just got an email from Bill Chesnut confirming that the 5-day instructor led hands-on BizTalk course from QuickLearn will be delievered by him from 15th June in Melbourne. Please click here for course registration & details. Alternatively, contact Bill for details:

Bill Chesnut
BizTalk Practice Manager
Stargate Global Consulting
Level 3, 600 Victoria Street
Richmond Victoria 3121

Telephone: 03 8420 3050
Facsimile: 03 8420 3150
Mobile:        0404063648

BizTalk 2009 Hyper-V Guide
Folks, I have to say that our local BizTalk legend, Chris Vidotto, is on fire as he pointed out yet another link to the latest Hyper-V guide for BizTalk 2009 here
TechEd 2009
Folks, this year's TechEd is in Gold Coast from Sep 8-11. Hope to see you all there. Click here for Registration and get your Early Bird Discount!
BizTalk Best Practice Analyzer 1.2 now available!
My good friend, colleague and BizTalk legend, Chris Vidotto, just pointed out that the BizTalk Best Practise Analyzer 1.2 is out. You can download it here - good on you mate!
BizTalk 2009 Hands On Days

It's here folks! You've got the fantastic opportunity to jump headfirst into the new features of BizTalk Server 2009 under the guidance of our local Aussie experts Bill Chesnut, Dan Toomey, Dean Robertson, Mick BadranMiguel Herrera. But you need to register soon. Click on the city of your choice to register: Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney .

  

The Australian BizTalk User Groups are hosting a series of one day Hands On Labs that will tour Australia in May and June. These labs are designed for anyone who has used a previous version of BizTalk Server and wishes to explore firsthand the new features in BizTalk Server 2009.  You will have an a dedicated BizTalk 2009 development environment to use during the event and the option to work on the hands on labs modules or experiment with the new features. The BizTalk Server 2009 development environment will include BizTalk Server 2009, RFID, ESB 2.0, Windows 2008, SQL Server 2008, Team Foundation Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 Team Suite.

 

The events will be held at Cliftons (respective branches) and will cost $200 (incl GST & lunch). Register early to ensure your seat!

BizTalk Hotrod magazine

I think this magazine is a little treasure house of some great articles & insights into BizTalk - enjoy!

BizTalk 2009 supported upgrade paths

Folks, I've actually received a whole swag of questions around the paths that we currently support for upgrade to 2009. This table provides a good overview of the supported paths (Note, we still do not support a direct 2004 to 2009 Upgrade. As and when we publicly release a guidance on that, I'll update my blogs):

BizTalk Server 2006/R2

BizTalk Server 2009 Evaluation Edition

BizTalk Server 2009 Branch Edition

BizTalk Server 2009 Developer Edition

BizTalk Server 2009 Standard Edition

BizTalk Server 2009 Enterprise Edition

Evaluation

No

No

No

No

Yes

Partner

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Developer

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

Standard

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Enterprise

No

No

No

No

Yes

BizTalk 2009 Installation & Upgrade Guide

Lots of enquiries about the Installation & Upgrade Guide for BizTalk 2009. Here is the link.

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