Non-Stop BizTalk®

Error creating a Data Source from the Planning Administration Console

2009-03-18T13:48:00.003+02:00

Hi and welcome to another post from Non-Stop BizTalk!

I was trying to create a Data Source to AdventureWorksDW in the Planning Administration Console, PerformancePoint Server 2007. Got the following error message: You do not have the required permissions to connect to the specified database (Error code: PerformancePoint_225000183) Connection to database AdventureWorksDW on server local failed. This was caused by collaction settings in SQL Server 2005 for this database. The complete description of the problem problem and the solution are available here.

Cheers,
Yousef

Would ARR help solve my problem?

2009-03-08T14:42:00.002+02:00

Hello and welcome to another post from Non-Stop BizTalk!

Posted the following in the official IIS forum:

Hi,

I have the following scenario:

I have 3 VLANs, or say 3 network segments. VLAN1 is the clients segment; VLAN2 has SharePoint Server, with a website that utilizes the PageViewer web part. This PageViewer is used to display websites hosted on Servers at VLAN3 (applications segment). Users from VLAN1 are prohibited to access the applications at VLAN3 directly; they have to do it via SharePoint's PageViewer); so when a users browses an application from the pageViewer at SharePoint he gets an access denied message for the contents in the viewer (since the PageViewer is merely an iFrame control -- URL holder). I am wondering if I can user the ARR module from IIS 7.0 to route the requests from VLAN1 to VLAN3 as if they were initiated from VLAN2 (SharePoint)..

Appreciating your help,

Yousef

And got the following reply:

Sure, if you install ARR on machine which has 2 nics, one on vlan1 and the other on vlan3, it could accept requests for pages you want to allow from vlan1 and forward them to vlan3 - you would also need to update the links on your sharepoint pageviewer (or your dns entries in vlan1) to point to the ARR server. Note that while you can configure ARR to be an http forward proxy, you cannot use it as an https forward proxy.

Anil Ruia
Senior Software Design Engineer
IIS Core Server

Lenovo ThinkPad R500 shuts down unexpectedly

2009-02-24T17:29:00.002+02:00

Hello and welcome to another post from Non-Stop Biztalk,

Got a brand new Lenovo ThinkPad R500 a couple of days ago. The laptop, equipped with Microsoft Windows XP SP3 kept shutting down unexpectedly. Apparently, this problem was caused by one of the windows services. First, I adjusted the recovery settings on each of the following services to be on failure, Restart the Service: for RPC, DCOM Server Process Launcher, COM+ System Application and COM+ Event System. The problem disappeared and a couple of days later on it came back to strike once again. Afterward, I applied the fix provided in this post. Now, it seems that everything is working properly.

Yousef

Confront the Brutal Facts

2008-12-24T14:19:00.002+02:00

Check out: Good To Great and James Stockdale

Cheers

Microsoft and BPM: A Technology Overview - Whitepaper

2008-11-18T13:39:00.000+02:00

A very useful whitepaper by Chappell & Associates, available here

Enjoy,

Yousef

Invalid class string (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800401F3 (CO_E_CLASSSTRING))

2008-10-30T10:06:00.003+02:00

Hi and welcome to another post from Non-Stop BizTalk!

Had a virus or a trojan a couple of days ago on my Windows Server 2003 test machine. After I performed a scan-clean procedure, I luanched BIDS (Business Intelligence Development Studio) to work with the Adventure Works Cube Project sample. When I tried to browse the Adventure Works.cube, the browser failed to load and the exception Invalid class string

(Exception from HRESULT: 0x800401F3 (CO_E_CLASSSTRING)) was thrown.

I followed the steps available here, which is re-installing the

Microsoft Office 2003 Web Components, and this solved my problem.

Cheers

Foundations of SQL Server for Business Intelligence

2008-10-26T16:09:00.000+02:00

Failed to load application [DBName] due to incompatible versions. Please upgrade the application to version 3.0.3917.0.

2008-10-22T14:12:00.000+02:00

Hi,

When you apply SP1 for PerformancePoint Server 2007 you need to upgrade your application databases, for them to work properly with the upgrade, or otherwise, you will keep getting the error message in the event viewer "Failed to load application [DBName] due to incompatible versions. Please upgrade the application to version 3.0.3917.0." and the applications created prior to the upgrade won't show up in the Planning Admin. Console. To upgrade the application databses run the Planning Server Configuration Wizard, then select Upgrade Databases in the step Add/Remove Services as the following screenshot ilustrates:

In the next step "Upgrade Databases" select Upgrade Application Databases and proceed with the configuration procedure.

I hope this was useful!

Yousef

Planning Business Modeler: You cannot access this server because you don't have the appropriate permission

2008-09-28T14:12:00.002+03:00

Hi again and welcome to another post from Non-Stop BizTalk,

When you try to login to your Planning Server from the Planning Business Modeler you receive the error message "You cannot access this server because you dont have the appropriate permission". Dont panic! Even if you're a Global Admin on your planning server, you have to be granted a User Admin role on one of the planning apps in your server in order to be able to login to it. This MS KB article has more info on this error message: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941750

Happy PPS,
Yousef

PerformancePoint Server 2007

2008-09-16T13:32:00.000+03:00

Error Restoring PDW sample data cube in PPS 2007

2008-09-15T16:30:00.002+03:00

Hi and welcome to another post from Non-Stop Biztalk,

I was trying to restore the data cube PDW.abf for the Monitoring Server sample available with the Microsoft PerformacnePoint Server 2007 and got the error message The level '[1-08]' object was not found in the cube when the string, [Time].[Week].[1-08], was parsed. (Microsoft.AnalysisServices). Apparently, this cube has some inconsistencies and the PPS 2007 Team has a replacement for this cube available at http://blogs.msdn.com/performancepoint/archive/2008/01/03/error-restoring-pdw-sample-data-cube-in-2008.aspx. Replace the abf file at [SystemDrive]:\Program Files\Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server\3.0\Samples with the downloaded one and then try to restore and everything should work properly.

Cheers,

Inspiration Starts Somewhere.

2008-08-19T13:46:00.000+03:00

Microsoft Visual Studio Express Editions

Stumbling on Happiness

2008-08-18T16:55:00.000+03:00

"If you have even the slightest curiosity about the human condition, you ought to read it. Trust me" --MALCOM GLADWELL, AUTHOR OF BLINK

Installing Team Foundation Server 2005

2008-07-21T13:21:00.001+03:00

Finally, I managed to install Microsoft Team Foundation Server - A Single-Server Installation. And guess what? It was a hell of a nightmare! So, in this post, I am gonna summarize the steps necessary to achieve a successful Single-Server installation (deployment). First, have a hard copy of the latest TFS 2005 installation guide from here.
Second, stick to the steps in this installation guide and DO NOT deviate from the installation walk-thru in this guide; I repeat, stick to this guide, or you'll end up trouble-shooting a thousand problems.
Third, after installing SQL Server 2005 (according to the installtion steps in the guide), you need to configure the Reporting Services as mentioned in Robbe D. Morris's guide, available here. Fourth, DO NOT configure SharePoint Services 2.0 with SP2 After installing it; TFS will do this for you once you install it.
Fifth, you need to have the permission Log on locally for the other 2 domain accounts you will use when installing TFS (specifically, the TFS services account and the Reporting Services account) on the target installation server. To do this, open Start > All Programs > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy. From the navigation tree on the left side pane, select Local Policies > User Rights Assignments and select Allow log on locally from the list on the right and assign the 2 accounts this permission.
Sixth, make sure to restart the target installation machine whenever you're asked to in the installation guide.
Finally, STICK TO THE STEPS listed in the installation guide available from here

Good luck!
Yousef

I Love www.CodingHorror.com

2008-06-25T14:31:00.001+03:00

Business for the Tech. Guy, my list on Amazon's Listmania

2008-06-23T09:49:00.000+03:00

The list author says: "A list of must-read business books for the technical guy." Here

BizTalkServer2006R2_Capabilities.doc

2008-06-22T10:39:00.000+03:00

I've just downloaded this document (titled, BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Capabilities) from the BizTalk server website (the post title points to the link on the BT website), and it's proved very useful. Although I consider myself an immersed BT developer, sometimes I just forget about certain BT terms or ideas; so, this document comes handy as a quick reference to almost every term and concept in Microsoft's hot BT Server.

P.S. the page also contains a BT capabilities PDF poster.

Yousef

Persuasion: The Art of Influencing People

2008-06-10T15:11:00.000+03:00

Persuasion: The Art of Influencing People is a master piece! Although rated 2.5/5 stars on Amazon, I assure you that this book is a page-turner and must-read. By reading this book, you'll master these tiny techniques that make a difference for an effective, yet efficient communication; I was dazzled by the wealth of information available in it. The thing I liked the most about the book is that it combines information from both the fields of psycology and business. Absolutely recommended!

Exploring the Singleton Design Pattern

2008-04-15T01:13:00.000+03:00

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms954629.aspx Nice I like!

Agile Estimating and Planning

2008-02-29T01:31:00.000+02:00

Agile Estimating and Planning Rocks: A Revolution

Visual Studio 2008

2007-11-09T21:44:00.000+02:00

Earlier this year Visual Studio celebrated its tenth anniversary. As we move towards releasing Visual Studio 2008, let’s take a moment to reflect on the product's evolution.

The first release of Visual Studio in 1997 featured separate IDEs (that required their own installation) for Visual C++, Visual Basic, J++, and a tool known as InterDev. Visual Studio 6.0 was a dramatic improvement that marked the birth of Visual Basic 6 and embodied the idea of a set of unified services across all languages.

With Visual Studio .NET 2002 and Visual Studio .NET 2003, this vision was realized with the .NET Framework. For the first time an individual developer could write an application in the language of their choosing while taking advantage of a common set of tools including designers, drag and drop controls, and IntelliSense. Along with the increase of individual developer productivity was an increase in the size and complexity of development projects and teams.

Visual Studio 2005 was born to help developers in teams of any size increase collaboration and reduce development complexity. With each progressive release, Microsoft has reaffirmed its commitment to empowering the developer by creating a dialogue with the community to help incorporate feedback and improve the product. Visual Studio 2008 is no exception. With your help we are prepared to deliver on the commitment to make every software project successful on the Microsoft platform.

Download Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 today and help make this release the best ever!

[Courtesy of Microsoft Corporation]

Visual Studio 2005 Web Deployment Projects

2007-11-04T14:50:00.000+02:00

Hello and welcome to another post from Non-Stop BizTalk!

I was trying to create a web setup project using VS .NET 2005, and there I faced a problem: When you add a web setup project and try to add project output from a web project to the installer, you have one option: to add the Content Files from the web project. This will include every file type in your installer, including *.cs files (I don't think that you'd like to include them). Solution: If you need a decent web setup project, install the web deploymnet project add-in for VS 2005: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/asp.net/aa336619.aspx

The World is Flat

2007-11-02T19:41:00.001+02:00

I believe that The World is Flat "A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century" should be a must-read for every IT professional. This is awesome and insightful!

Head First Design Patterns

2007-10-13T00:13:00.000+02:00

This is so good! Just read on: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hfdesignpat/

Smart O/R Mapper

2007-08-02T23:46:00.000+03:00

Smart O/R Mapper (with System.Reflection and Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Caching)
Download code here

I've combined some ideas from DotNetNuke's CBO (I think this stands for Business Objects Creator or something like this..) and from an MSDN article on custom attributes (Can't remember the link to it), to develop whatI call a smart and agile O/R mapper. I will walk through the several parts of the solution:

First, I will develop a custom attribute with the name ColumnName. This custom attribute , with its AttributeUsage attribute set to AttributeTargets.Property will be used to mark public properties in my business entity class. Let's see how I will mark them: suppose that I have some database table named "Product" with three columns: ProductID, ProductName and ProductPrice, and a business class that will correspond to a row in the Products table as follows:

public class Product
{
private string _id;
private string _name;
private decimal _price;

public string ID
{
get { return _id; }
set { _id = value; }
}
public string Name
{
get { return _name; }
set { _name = value; }
}
public decimal Price
{
get { return _price; }
set { _price = value; }
}
}

In a typical situation, your run through the tedious job, again and again, which is the translation of your data object (holding product records) into a Product object (or Products collection). Using conventional code, you would do this:

using (SqlConnection objConn = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
{

SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT ProductID, ProductName, ProductPrice FROM Products");
cmd.Connection = objConn;
objConn.Open();
IDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);
Product p = null;
if (reader.Read())
{
p = new Product();
p.ID = (string) reader["ProductID"];
p.Name = (string)reader["ProductName"];
p.Price = (decimal)reader["ProductPrice"];

} }
return p;

Let's do it in a smart and agile way! As I said, First, I developed a custom attribute as follows:

namespace MyAttributesNameSpace{ ///

/// Indicates that a class property corresponds to a table field in a database ///

[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property , AllowMultiple = false)]
class ColumnName : Attribute
{ public readonly string Name;

///

/// Initializes a new instance of the ColumnName class. ///

/// Column name
public ColumnName(string name) { Name = name; } }}

I will use this attribute to mark a class property as corresponding to a column in Products table. The Product class becomes as follows after applying the attribute
public class Product
{
private string _id;
private string _name;
private decimal _price;
[ColumnName("ProductID")]
public string ID
{
get { return _id; }
set { _id = value; }
}

[ColumnName("ProductName")]
public string Name
{
get { return _name; }
set { _name = value; }
}

[ColumnName("ProductPrice")]
public decimal Price
{
get { return _price; }
set { _price = value; }
}
}

Now, the mapper class: This mapper will be used to create an instance of the desired business class at runtime (this enbales us to handle a variety of business classes at once using generic code)

First I will create a method called FillObject as the following:
public static object FillObject(IDataReader dataReader, Type classType)

{
// Create and object based on the type supplied
object businessObject = Activator.CreateInstance(classType);
// Get class properties (we need to populate) from data reader
ArrayList classProperties = GetPropertyInfo(classType);

// Get class property attributes
ColumnName[] classColumns = GetPropertiesAttributes(classProperties);
// Get object column ordinals (accessing a column using an ordinal is faster! So, get the ordinals)
int[] columnOrdinals = GetOrdinals(classType,classColumns, dataReader);

// Loop through properties and set
for (int propertyCount = 0; propertyCount <>

{ // if the ordinal is -1, then no column found on table

if (columnOrdinals[propertyCount] == -1)

{

throw new ApplicationException(Messages.ColumnNotFoundOnReader); }

// Pretty complex, ha?

// Get each property, and set its value from the corresponding field on data reader

// But before you set the value, cast the value to the property type

((PropertyInfo)classProperties[propertyCount]).SetValue(businessObject, CastToAppropriatePropertyType(((PropertyInfo)classProperties[propertyCount]).PropertyType, dataReader[columnOrdinals[propertyCount]]), null); } return businessObject; }

Second, method GetPropertyInfo gets the class properties. Note that we need to get a handle on the properties, in order to populate them.
private static ArrayList GetPropertyInfo(Type classType) {

string classPropertiesCacheKey = string.Concat(classType.FullName, "Properties"); CacheManager myCache = CacheFactory.GetCacheManager();
// Reflection is expensive! get the properties from cache, if available.

ArrayList objProperties = (ArrayList) symphonyCMCache.GetData(classPropertiesCacheKey);

if (objProperties == null)
{ objProperties = new ArrayList();

foreach (PropertyInfo propertyInfo in classType.GetProperties())
{
objProperties.Add(propertyInfo);
}

myCache.Add(classPropertiesCacheKey,objProperties);
}

return objProperties;
}

Third, get the column name (represented by the ColumnName attribute) that corresponds to each property
private static ColumnName[] GetPropertiesAttributes(ArrayList properties)
{
ColumnName[] tableColumns = new ColumnName[properties.Count];
for (int i = 0; i <>
{ PropertyInfo property = (PropertyInfo)properties[i];
// ColumnName is the only attribute on property (so get it using index 0)
tableColumns[i] = (ColumnName)property.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(ColumnName), false)[0];
}
//return tableColumns;
return tableColumns;
}
After we obtained the columns corresponding to the properties, we will get these columns ordinals

private static int[] GetOrdinals(Type classType,ColumnName [] columns, IDataReader dataReader)
{
string classOrdinalsCacheKey = string.Concat(classType.FullName, "Ordinals");
CacheManager myCache = CacheFactory.GetCacheManager();
// Why get ordinals each time? cache ordinals for better performance
int[] arrOrdinals = (int[])myCache.GetData(classOrdinalsCacheKey);
if (arrOrdinals == null) {
if (dataReader != null) {
arrOrdinals = new int[columns.Length];
for (int column = 0; column <>
{ arrOrdinals[column] = -1;
try
{
arrOrdinals[column] = dataReader.GetOrdinal(columns[column].ColumnName);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{ // property does not exist in datareader }
} }
// Cache class ordinals
myCache.Add(classOrdinalsCacheKey, arrOrdinals);
}
return arrOrdinals;
}
Fifth, we will loop through the properties, and set them (see function FillObject code).
And last, call the mapper to create an object from a data reader:
using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(_connectionString))
{ SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Products");
cmd.Connection = conn;
conn.Open();
SqlDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
while (reader.Read())
{
Product p = (Product)DataAccessHelper.FillObject(reader, typeof(Product));
productsCollection.Add(product);
}
Hope you will enjoy it as I did! Cheers
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BizTalk and MSBuild

2007-07-21T00:28:00.000+03:00

I just love MSBuild! Browse my sample files for a BizTalk script with MSBuild. Here: http://www.box.net/shared/6xvlkkvx53

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8 Tips and Tricks for Better BizTalk Programming

2007-07-13T23:48:00.000+03:00

This is really worth reading! the new article on BizTalk programming from the MSDN magazine is really great. Will help you shorten the time needed for your BT project development. For example, the first tip will spare you updating your message variables, receive and send shapes, ports and port types each time you update a schema in your BT project.

Recommended reading,

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SOA you think you can tell?

2006-12-17T14:31:00.000+02:00

If no! go to this article on SOA which is another invaluable one!
SOA Overview

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Passed Exam 70-235

2006-12-04T13:43:00.000+02:00

Halalooooya!

I've just passed the exam 70-235 (BizTalk2k6)! this is awesome,
a bit of a subtle exam but fairly good...
Included a big part on BAM, which something that you need to surely master before going.

Gracias a todos, BizTalk Vive!

Yousef

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Exam 70-235

2006-11-14T13:24:00.000+02:00

Hello Pros,

In a week or so, I will be attending the exam 70-235; Developing integration solutions and business processes using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006. Aha, my skills against the test! considering the experiences I've accumulated so far, I imagine that the exam will be a nice thing to do; answering from the hands-on practices I was invloved.

This is for now, should anything interesting happen the next couple of days, I will updating you.

All the best,
Yousef

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XML - a prerequisite of BizTalk

2006-09-14T14:28:00.000+03:00

Are you a BizTalk newbie? before digging into BizTalk, immerse yourself in XML and related technologies, shared you a good intro to XML here [@My Box]

Good luck,
Yousef

Custom pipeline - problem and solution

2006-09-12T16:18:00.000+03:00

Developed a custom pipeline for an application,
1 - The pipeline received a binary file from an FTP receive location
2 - The custom pipeline - the disassemble stage transformed the binary file into an xml message to be passed to the messaging engine and so delivered to the processing orchestration
3 - A map in my orchestration didnt recognize the message! despite the fact that I was able to examine the passed message using HAT
4 - Earlier while developing the pipeline I constructed the message as:
<Root>
<Field1>val</Field1>
<Field2>val</Field2>
<Field3>val</Field3>
<Field4>val</Field4>
</Root>
The map didnt recognize the message because the namespace of the message was missing
5 - To solve the problem constructed the message as
<ns0:Root xmlns:ns0="http://MyApp.Msgs">
<Field1>val</Field1>
<Field2>val</Field2>
<Field3>val</Field3>
<Field4>val</Field4>
</ns0:Root>

BizTalk 2006 Assembly Viewer

2006-09-04T15:07:00.000+03:00

The BizTalk 2006 Assembly Viewer is a useful tool that will let you view and control assemblies in the GAC. Assembly Viewer is a windows shell extension for examining deployed BizTalk assemblies and assembly types!

BizTalk 2006 Assembly Viewer

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Finally! BizTalk 2006 Books

2006-09-03T14:58:00.000+03:00

To be released soon, 2 titles on BizTalk Server 2006

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Deployment failed!

2006-08-30T14:43:00.000+03:00

Moved a BizTalk project from Server A to Server B (Servers A and B each with its own SQL Server), When tried to deploy the project at Server B got the following error message: An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server), Guess why?
In the properties of project - deployment, the project refered to the SQL Server on Server A, to solve the problem

right click the biztalk project > properties > configuration properties > deployment > BizTalk group > change the Server (SQL) name property to the right one

Cheers,

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BTSTask replaces BTSDeploy

2006-08-28T18:14:00.000+03:00

For BizTalk Server 2006, you use BTSTask.exe to perform BizTalk application deployment tasks. BTSDeploy is provided for backward compatibility.

Happy BizTalk dev,
Yousef

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Macros to create file names

2006-08-22T16:24:00.000+03:00

When creating a file (send adapter), in the send port properties (See figure 2), you specify the type File in the transport properties and you choose configure to set the File Transaport properties (See figure 1). You wonder what the %MessageID% is in the file name text box,
BizTalk server has a predefined set of macros to create the file names generated. for instance, this %MessageID%.xml generates a file with a name as the Globally unique identifier (GUID) of the message in BizTalk Server. The value comes directly from the message context property BTS.MessageID.

A number of macros are available such as:
%datetime%, %DestinationParty%, %SourceFileName%, for the full list refer to the Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 help.

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I wanna become a BizTalk developer/specialist, HOW?

2006-08-14T18:13:00.000+03:00

3 steps,

1 - You have to posses a set of skills/expertise including (basically)

- Working experience and familiarity with Web Services and their specifications WS-*
- Working experience and familiarity with XML and its related technologies (XML schemas [XSD], XSL,...)
- Working experience and familiarity with the UML (the Unified Modeling Language), such as work flow diagrams
- Experienced in the design and development of .NET class libraries\apps
- Familiarity with the networking terminology and concepts
- Good understanding of what SOA is (if possible)

2 - READ the Microsoft BizTalk Server white papers available at
http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/techinfo/whitepapers/default.mspx

3 - Walkthrough the BizTalk Server tutorials (really good) available at
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6a5f6ef4-aeb8-4d8d-a521-37333a875ce4&DisplayLang=en

4 - Try to join the BizTalk Server Team (EAI, BPA team) at the organization you're working for, and immerse your self in BizTalk through developing real world applications

Cheers,

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2 really good tech. articles

2006-08-10T12:08:00.000+03:00

Service-Oriented Integration
The Service Interface Pattern

Enjoy a good read,
Yousef

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BizTalk Silent Installation [Hussssh baby]

2006-08-07T15:31:00.000+03:00

Hola!

I found this very useful; to initiate a biztalk server installation (setup) instance and executing it with no intervention required (No need to walk through the installation wizard). This is what the BizTalk Server 2006 installation guide calls a Silent Installation; it's just a matter of writing a simple batch file that will do the task for you.

- Use this method when installing biztalk on multiple boxes with identical configurations

** Quoted the following section from the Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows Server 2003

To perform a BizTalk Server 2006 silent installation

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.

2. To start the silent installation, at the command prompt, type setup.exe (BizTalk's setup.exe) / , and then press ENTER.

3. Refer to the BizTalk Installation Guide (Link to it was provided in a previous post) for the command-line options that you use to install BizTalk Server 2006.

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Hub-and-Spoke VS. ESB [and BizTalk]

2006-07-24T13:49:00.000+03:00

Hello,

Do you confuse between what a Hub-and-Spoke arch. is and what an ESB (Enterprise Services Bus) is? The following article by Loek Bakker highlights the main differences between the 2 architectures and provides insights on how BizTalk Server (The premier EAI and BPA engine) fits in,

read Goodbye Hub-and-Spoke, Hello ESB? Integration Architecture With BizTalk 2004

Cheers,
Yousef

WMI Code Creator v1.0

2006-07-09T17:18:00.000+03:00

Bahhh!

This is really gooood!
Are you tired from restarting your BizTalkServerApplication Service "BTSNTSvc.exe" after a manual re-deploy of a BizTalk server assembly (by dropping it directly to the GAC). Are you tired from managing your BizTalk application artifacts manually (such as disabling/enabling a receive location) ???

Then here you go:
The WMI Code Generator from Microsoft, @ Download it from here.

With this tool, you can easily generate WMI scripts using C#, VB.NET to access the WMI namespaces to perform the tedious management tasks on the fly.

Happy WMI code generation,
Yousef

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Good articles on SOA

2006-07-05T16:22:00.000+03:00

Hello again,

I found the following 3 articles so useful to comprehend what SOA is

Understanding Service-Oriented Architecture

SOA: More Integration, Less Renovation

Service Orientation and Its Role in Your Connected Systems Strategy

Happy reading,
Yousef

*[If you think that you have valuable feedback to improve the contents of this blog, please leave it as a comment here]

SOA by Thomas Erl

2006-07-03T16:00:00.000+03:00

Hello

The ulitmate 2 books on the topic of SOA by Thmoas Erl from SOA Systems,
@ www.soabooks.com

Enjoy the master pieces,
Yousef

BizTalk Server 2006 Installation and Upgrade Guides

2006-06-27T13:31:00.000+03:00

Hello,

When installing/upgrading to BizTalk Server 2006, consider the following valuable guides: BizTalk Server 2006 Installation and Upgrade Guides

Cheers,
Yousef

BizTalk 2004 SDK Refresh

2006-06-26T11:28:00.000+03:00

Hello,

If it happens that you are walking through some tutorial provided with the BizTalk 2004 help, and you notice that one of the sample files that are referenced in the tutorial is missing in dir: :\Program Files\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004\SDK\, then you missed the BizTalk 2004 SDK referesh (update) @
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8a1ca3af-790c-4261-838a-9f0661c72887&DisplayLang=en,

Cheers,
Yousef

You cannot use a pass-Thru pipeline to receive XML messages

2006-06-19T12:46:00.000+03:00

Ahhh,
This was annoying trying to figure it out,
Check this MS BizTalk KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=837860

Cheers,
Yousef

The Microsoft Connected Services Framework (CSF)

2006-06-11T13:32:00.000+03:00

The Microsoft Connected Services Framework:

I've been reading and investigating about the Microsoft CSF lately, it was a delightful experience. Microsoft brings more intelligence characteristics into the realm of EAI and BPA dedicated to the telecommunications industry.

Abstract:

CSF is a framework (a set of guidelines, principles, tools, and supporting applications) that aids in the management of a highly dynamic services-based environment (i.e telcos). built upon the paradigm of SOA and implemented by the means of industry standard web services (SOAP, UDDI, XML). CSF is a framework that will enable telocs to stay competitive and bring the best of highly customized services to their customer base.

CSF utilizes the .NET framework as the development platform, along with many Microsoft products that proved creative, reliable and cost effective in the field of SOA, such as Microsoft BizTalk Server, .NET XML web services, and the WS-* specifications.

What CSF will provide:

Redefine the way business processes are executed in a telco environment (cut costs, bring effective and efficient management of resources, technical and human).

Add intelligence to the services provided to a subscriber (customizable services based on the customer prefernces).

Unleash and maintain the list of services available from OSS/BSS and build upon them to get the user an agile high-end service (build aggregated services from the available basic/leaf services that are available).

Develop, deploy, and integrate any new added service easily to the telco environment.

Seamlessly let information and networking services flow across the organization by not only integrating application services, but also networking and pure telecommunication services.

A basic structure of a Telco-specific technical environment that is aligned to the business objectives of the organization, as identified in the TeleManagement Forum’s eTOM standards definition.

Required expertise:

• Microsoft .NET Development
• Advanced Web Services
• Web Service Enhancements (WSE)
• Available Microsoft Online Documentation
• Web Service Basics
• Advanced Web Services

Recommended Experience:

• Microsoft BizTalk Server
• Microsoft SQL Server
• Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM)
• Active Directory® directory service
• Security Terminology

Cheers,
YousefO

What is ?

2006-06-06T14:43:00.000+03:00

Hello,

While working with Microsoft BizTalk Server , you will encounter a vast number of IT technical terms that you may, or may not be familiar with. To get a brief of any technical term you wonder about, I recommend What Is?. A encyclopedia of IT terms.

Cheers,

Yousef

BizTalk Server 2006 Presentation

2006-06-06T11:24:00.000+03:00

Hello,

Technology specialist Ihsan Anabtawi from Microsoft East Med, Highlights the main features of BTS 2006
in a dazzling presentation at www.devconnect.net

Enjoy it (Disfruta) !
Yousef

My Orchestration is up and running

2006-05-29T14:39:00.000+03:00

Hello,

Recall from a previous post that I started developing a new orchestration. The orchestration performs a complex financial transaction against the banking system Equation hosted on an IBM AS/400. So, to update you, the orchestration is up and running !

Lessons learned:

1- As your ocrhestration starts to get bigger and more complex, use the expression shape to log the steps (major) performed, into some log file,windows application log,
windows custom log.

2- Use HAT (Health and Activity Tracking) to debug your orchestration (provides capabilities to simulate the actual steps performed by the orchestration after the orchestration has completed) which is awesome. Also, use HAT to view the messages received, built, and exchanged during an orchestration. Finally, use HAT to debug and track any other components comprising an orchestration (ex. pipelines)

3- Name and initialize orchestration variables properly (ex. Hungarian notation)
4- Add exception handling blocks to scopes defined in the orchestration
5- Dont forget the 3 steps to set an orchestration active (Bind-enlist-start)
6- Dont forget to restart the BizTalk host after undeploying - deploying an orchestration

HAT shows that my orch. was completed successfuly

Cheers,
Yousef

BTS Technical Articles of Note

2006-05-22T12:00:00.000+03:00

Hola

A list of good technical articles for BTS 2004, enjoy!

Developing integration solutions with BTS 2004

BTS 2004: A Messaging Engine Overview

BTS 2004 and Web Services

Using XML Schemas in BTS 2004

Transactions Across BTS 2004

Cheers,
Yousef

Well oraganized, clean, and neat orchestration

2006-05-18T17:18:00.000+03:00

Your ocrhestration is getting fatty as mine ? then you should:

1- Think throughly before starting to author your orchestration; so you avoid making massive changes to it aferward. (Its difficult to make changes to a cluttered messy one). An organized orchestration will make it easier to modify or change.

2- Use Group shapes to visually organize the pieces of the orchestration into units (same as the notion of #region in C#). (you can collapse and expand Groups); so you keep an eye on the big picture of the orchestration.

3- If you're comfortable with MS Visio like me, download the Orchestration Designer for Business Analysts. You can use this ODBA to sketch your diagrams before doing them on VS .NET. (Later on you can import your sketches from ODBA into VS.NET)

This is for now,
Have a good BizTalk Development,

YousefO

New OrchX

2006-05-17T17:32:00.000+03:00

Hello,

I've just started composing a new orchestration for the project (Symphony) :D. It's a bit complex one that requires concentration !
In this one, I will be using every type of shape available in the orchestration designer Tool Box (Sounds cool, ha ?) Like (Scope, Group, Compensation Block, Throw Exception, Expressions, and more) WISH ME LUCK...

*Thought you would like take a glimpse at my new baby Orchy, here you go

Talk to you later,
Adios

BTS, HIS, and MOM

2006-05-11T15:30:00.000+03:00

¡Hola!

At Estarta Solutions, I work with 3 products from Microsoft. Again, It feels good!

Microsoft Operations Manager 2005

Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004

Microsoft Host Integration Server 2004

And before I go, to let you know, a couple of days ago, I developed my first orchestration (a graphical depiction of an automated process, created using the orchestration designer in BTS) .. Muy Bien ! :)

Here you go, a snapshot of the orchestration (The orchestration I created is a component of the Symphony project - EAI, BPA for the Arab Bank, by us Estarta Solutions)

Ba bye,
Yousef

BizTalk para @ Wikipedia by me

2006-05-03T17:45:00.000+03:00

I wrote at wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BizTalk)

Why Microsoft BizTalk Server?

Microsoft BizTalk Server is a server software that aims to achieve the business objectives of

Seamlessly connecting desperate legacy systems with heterogenous back-end data stores

Cutting costs and saving time of corporate operations by automating complex business processes

Supporting the notion of "Don't reinvent the wheel" for software development, by providing a graphical user interface to create business processes (called Orchestrations in BizTalk) instead of writing code.

Promoting for the SOA paradigm, through the effective and efficient use of web services and WS-* specifications

Align the corporate IT with the business objectives of the organization, through a greater involvement of business people with IT operations. Achieved in BizTalk using BAM (Business Activity Monitoring), BAS (Business Activity Services), and HWS (Human Workflow Services)