BizTalk Server Memo, Part 1

BizTalk Server Memo, Part 1

Jan. 1, 2007

 

1. Usually the Activate property for the first receive shape of orchestration (where the first action shape is the receive shape.) is set to be true.

Change the Activate property for the receive shape to true. This will cause the orchestration engine to launch an instance of this schedule whenever an Employee message is received.

 

2. The XSD Schema format includes several kinds of group constructs:

Sequence Group - By default, child content for a node is presumed to occur in order in the sequence provided. You can get the same effect explicitly by using the Sequence Group menu item, in which case a sequence element is created in the XSD Source view.

Choice group - The node in the tree view is labeled <Choice>, and the available choices are specified as the child nodes of this node. You control the number of times the message instance can choose from these options with the Min Occurs and Max Occurs properties of the <Choice> node.

 

3. Send Port Groups

One of the most powerful and overlooked features in BizTalk Server is the use of Send Port Groups to route a single message to more that one destination. A send port group is a collection of send ports that BizTalk Server can use to send the same message to multiple destinations in one configuration. This is a "key" feature of BizTalk Server's "Publish and Subscribe" architecture where a publisher can have more than one subscriber.

 

4. Correlation Type & Correlation Set

A correlation type is just a list of properties. These properties may be from the message data or the surrounding message and orchestration context.

A correlation type is created in the Orchestration view by right-clicking the Correlation Types node (in the types tree) and selecting New Correlation Type from the context menu. When you have a correlation type, you can use it in orchestrations by creating correlation sets.

 

The purpose of a correlation set is to ensure that messages are properly routed to the correct instance of an orchestration schedule. You create correlation sets for an orchestration the same as you create other variables. Go to the Orchestration view and right-click the Correlation Sets node in the project's orchestration tree (the top tree in the view). Select New Correlation Set from the context menu. A new node is created. In the Property view for that set, you rename and describe the set.

 

The following article has a wonderful and clear description on this topic, which tells you why the Correlation Set is necessary and how to implement in Biztalk server.

 

A Gentle Introduction to Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 Correlation,

http://www.microsoft.com/belux/msdn/nl/community/columns/himschoot/correlation.mspx