While I was developing a flat file disassembler flat file component to handle multiple flat file formats, I was completely brought off track by something I found on Gilles’ Weblog: ‘In a pipeline component, some streams are not seekable: Improvements to the Archiver’.

The confusing text was:

I should have used BodyPart.Data which in the case of custom pipeline components makes a copy of the inbound message:
// Get a *copy* of the original input stream
originalStrm = bodyPart.Data;

However, when testing my pipeline component the messages seemed to disappear. The message types were determined correctly, the document specification name was determined correctly, but my message did not appear in the output location. After a lot of frustration and time, it finally hit me; maybe the resulting stream was empty. I thought, because of the comment mentioned above, that I was dealing with a copy of the stream, but according to the MSDN:

In custom pipeline components, Data clones an inbound data stream, whereas GetOriginalDataStream returns the original inbound stream.

So, instead of dealing with a copy I was dealing with a clone of the stream. Adding the following lines solved the problem, pffff:

// Preserve the stream position
long position = dataStream.Position;

// Restore the stream position
dataStream.Position = position;

Recently I was working with WCF and ran into the following error:

Server Error in ‘/WCFService’ Application

Failed to access IIS metabase.

The solution was simple. Executing the below statement solved the problem.

aspnet_regiis /i

The error indicates that the .NET Framework is not registered with IIS. The .NET Framework detects which versions of IIS exist when the .NET Framework is installed, and it automatically registers itself with IIS. If IIS does not exist when .NET Framework is installed, the .NET Framework is not registered with IIS.

The command with -i switch is used for installing ASP.NET and upgrading all application pools to ASP.NET version which came with the ASP.NET IIS Registration Tool. It will ignore the previous version of application pool.

See Microsoft: ASP.NET IIS Registration Tool (aspnet_regiis.exe).

The node to be inserted is from a different document context.

svcNode.InsertAfter(xmlDocInst.ImportNode(statsNode, true), svcNode.SelectSingleNode("Type"));

When using the multiplication functoid in the BizTalk mapper I ran into some strange behaviour. In the source schema I had two elements: Price, defined as string, and NumberOfTransactions, also defined as string. I used the multiplication functoid the determine the TotalSalesAmount, again defined as string with restriction ^-?(\d{0,16})(\.\d{1,4})?$, in the destination schema.

The result surprised me; the price, 0.0340, multiplied by the transctions, 6, resulted in a total amount of 0.20400000000000002. Obviously, the result was not the result I wanted to see.

So, I tried using a custom scriptoid. The scriptoid contained the following functoin:

public Double ReturnTotalAmount(string p_noTxn, string p_prcRet)
{
    // Set to English-United Kingdom meaning period as a decimal
    // indicator and comma and thousand grouping delimiter
    IFormatProvider culture =
             new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-GB", true);
    System.Globalization.NumberStyles styles =
             System.Globalization.NumberStyles.AllowExponent |
             System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Number;
    long numTxn = Convert.ToInt64(p_noTxn);
    Double retailPrice = Double.Parse(p_prcRet, styles, culture);
    Double totalAmount =  numTxn * retailPrice;

    return totalAmount;
}

The result again did not meet my expectations. The total amount ended up being 0.20400000000000002. After being puzzled for a couple of minutes I found the answer. The above code needed just a little adjustment. The final code is:

public string ReturnTotalAmount(string p_noTxn, string p_prcRet)
{
    // Set to English-United Kingdom meaning period as a decimal
    // indicator and comma and thousand grouping delimiter
    IFormatProvider culture =
             new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-GB", true);
    System.Globalization.NumberStyles styles =
             System.Globalization.NumberStyles.AllowExponent |
             System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Number;
    long numTxn = Convert.ToInt64(p_noTxn);
    Double retailPrice = Double.Parse(p_prcRet, styles, culture);
    Double totalAmount =  numTxn * retailPrice;

    return totalAmount.ToString(culture);
}

I simply had to explicitly convert the result back into the right datatype, i.e. string, using the defined culture. Another valuable leason learned.

I always seem to forget the most common macros when using the Send File Adapter in BizTalk, so this is a reminder.

Lately I was making a Proof of Concept including the BRE. After making a vocabulary and some rules I tested the policy. The rules were successfully fired. I then built an orchestration implementing a Call Rules shape. After deploying the orchestration I tested the application. However, the rules did not fire. A couple of hours later I found the ‘problem’.

So to not forget in the future: Put the Call Rules shape within an Atomic Transaction.

Ever having trouble adding a custom pipeline component to the BizTalk pipeline Components toolbox?
Sometimes when trying to add a component to the toolbox you run into to following Pipeline Component Error:

"You have selected an invalid pipeline component assembly. Please check security settings for the assembly if you are loading it from an UNC path."

Some hints to resolve this error:

1. Check that the class is marked as public.
2. Check the presence of the class attributes.
   [ComponentCategory(CategoryTypes.CATID_PipelineComponent)]
   [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Guid("<new guid>")]
   [ComponentCategory(CategoryTypes.CATID_Decoder)]
   public class <<class>> : Microsoft.BizTalk.Component.Interop.IComponent, IBaseComponent, IPersistPropertyBag, IComponentUI
   {
   ...
   }

Most of the times the problem occurs when building the component manually. A useful tool is the pipeline component wizard.

IF $(ConfigurationName) EQU Release GOTO done
xcopy "$(ProjectDir)$(Outdir)$(TargetFileName)" "C:\Program Files\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006\Pipeline Components" /R /Y /F
IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 GOTO done
net stop "BizTalk Service BizTalk Group : BizTalkServerApplication"
iisreset
xcopy "$(ProjectDir)$(Outdir)$(TargetFileName)" "C:\Program Files\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006\Pipeline Components" /R /Y /F
net start "BizTalk Service BizTalk Group : BizTalkServerApplication"
:done

There was a failure executing the send pipeline: "xxxxx.BizTalk.Pipelines.Send.Compress, xxxxx.BizTalk.Pipelines, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1234a1aa1a123a1a" Source: "XML validator" Send Port: "xxxxx" URI: "FILE://D:\File.gz" Reason: AddDocument: The component "XML validator" must implement the IAssemblerComponent interface.

ArchiveFormat myFormat = (ArchiveFormat) Enum.Parse(typeof(ArchiveFormat), formatName);

public static class Enum<T>
{
public static T Parse(string value)
{
  return (T) Enum.Parse(typeof (T), value);
}
 
public static IList<T> GetValues()
{
  IList<T> list = new List<T>();
  foreach (object value in Enum.GetValues(typeof (T)))
  {
   list.Add((T) value);
  }
  return list;
}
}

ArchiveFormat myFormat = Enum<ArchiveFormat>.Parse(formatName);

Just back from holidays, I needed to debug a c# component used in one of our orchestrations. Since we introduced some additional host instances, I needed to to determine to which host instance (service) to attach to. In the Attach to Process dialog it is not possible to see to which host instance the pid belongs, they, in this example, both show as  BTSNTSvc.exe.

However, by executing the tasklist command using the command prompt you are able to determine where to attach to.
Execute the following command (on a 32 bit server):

tasklist /svc /fi "imagename eq btsntsvc.exe"

• tasklist
  Displays a list of applications and services with their Process ID (PID) for all tasks.
• /svc
  Lists all the service information for each process without truncation.
• /fi <filter name>
  Specifies the types of process(es) to include in or exclude from the query. The eq is equals.

The result after executing the command will be something like:

As the orchestrations are run within the BtsProcessingHost, the belonging PID can now easily be found and the component attached the corresponding BizTalk service.

There was a failure executing the receive pipeline: "Microsoft.BizTalk.DefaultPipelines.XMLReceive, Microsoft.BizTalk.DefaultPipelines, Version=3.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" Source: "XML disassembler" Receive Port: "Load ..." URI: "D:\In\XML\*.xml" Reason: Cannot convert "SomeID" to "long" because the type is not supported.

When you define an element with data type xs:decimal, there is no way that you can control the digits using the XSD schema editor in Visual Studio. However, you can still add the fractionDigit facet, by editing the BizTalk schema in a text/xml editor. Just add the following code under the xs:decimal data type element:

<xs:simpleType>
            <xs:restriction base="xs:decimal">
                        <xs:fractionDigits value="3" />
            </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

If you than validate an instance the error nicely refers to the fractionDigits facet specified:

The '….' element is invalid - The value '169.5652174' is invalid according to its datatype 'Decimal' - The FractionDigits constraint failed.

Nice feature!

While searching the internet I found this article by Stephen Kaufman describing the fractionDigit feature. It was written before BizTalk 2006 was even there. I'm wandering why this feature was not incorporated in BizTalk Server 2006 (R#).

 tf workspace /delete /server:http://<server>:8080 <computer>;<domain>\<client>

 

When deploying a BizTalk project from Visual Studio, you sometimes run into this error:

"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)"

This happened to me when migrating from Visual SourceSafe, VSS, to Team Foundation System, TFS, by copying the projects from a pc to a virtual machine. To solve this error, perform the following steps:

1. Rightclick on the project and choose Properties
2. Go to "Configuration Properties" => "Deployment"
3. Change the "Server" property to be the servername of the SQL Server you are deploying to
4. Save changes
5. Deploy again

The error happens since the servername is listed in the projectname.btproj.user file that is a part of the project.

I often forget the change the servername, so this is to not forget it the next time.

Technorati Tags: BizTalk 2006,BizTalk 2006 R3,VS2008,SQL Server 2008

Today I read a blogpost on BizTalk Server Team Blog announcing the plans to deliver BizTalk server 2006 R3. This new release will support Windows Server 2008, .Net framework 3.5, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008. According to Steve Martin's blogpost  a CTP of BizTalk Server R3 is expected later this year and the RTM is planned the first half of 2009.

" at a high level we are planning some new investments in the release that includes:

• New web service registry capabilities with support for UDDI (Universal Description Discovery and Integration) version 3.0 
• Enhanced service enablement of applications (through new and enhanced adapters for LOB applications, databases, and legacy/host systems) 
• Enhanced service enablement of “edge” devices through BizTalk RFID Mobile 
• Enhanced interoperability and connectivity support for B2B protocols (like SWIFT, EDI, etc) 
• SOA patterns and best practices guidance to assist our customer’s implementations"

Could not write to output file '[path]\obj\Debug\[assembly].dll' -- 'The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.'

Recently I ran into this when I tried to deploy my BizTalk project from Visual Studio 2005:

"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)"

I had run into this error before and after a few minutes I remembered what I did wrong: the server name. Since I moved the solution and projects from Visual Source Safe to Team Foundation System in a virtual machine environment, I needed to change the server name of the project. To change the property, complete the following steps:

• Rightclick on the project and choose Properties
• Go to "Configuration Properties" and select "Deployment"
• Change the "Server" property to be the servername of the SQL Server you are deploying to
• Save changes
• Deploy again

Now let's hope I won't forget it a next time.