Time to uprade to Windows Vista

BizTalk 2006 R2 is in Beta now. This edition supports Windows Vista. Download it from http://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=65

Business Rules - Presentation

My last presentation on BizTalk Rules Engine at the Twin Cities BizTalk User Group is online now. Get it at http://www.mnbiztalk.com/PastPresentations.aspx

BizTalk 2006 Touble shooting guide

Microsoft has published the BizTalk 2006 developers trouble shooting guide, grab it here

Microsoft Adds Eight Application Adapters for BizTalk Server

Microsoft Adds Eight Application Adapters for BizTalk Server.
Technology purchase from iWay Software enhances BizTalk Server application connectivity.
The adapters Microsoft purchased will help BizTalk Server customers connect more easily to third-party applications from Amdocs, JD Edwards, Oracle Corp., PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems Inc. and TIBCO Software Inc. More details here.

MsgBox Cleanup - SQL way

In the <install dir>\schema directory you will find a file called msgbox_cleanup_logic.sql (it is installed with SP1). This file contains the definition for a stored procedure called bts_CleanupMsgbox. By default, this stored procedure exists in your msgbox except that the default implementation is empty so it does nothing. To use this script first run the .sql file against all msgboxes using Query Analyzer. This will simply create the stored procedure. It won't actually do anything to your box as far as cleanup goes

Then follow the steps below.

1. Stop BTS.
2. Do IISRESET to recycle your IIS.
3. Run "exec bts_CleanupMsgbox" on your message box database. This will mark your instances for deletion and it will not actually delete it.
4. Run "exec bts_PurgeSubscriptions" on your message box database. This will purge all your messages marked for deletion.
5. Restart your BTS.

Note: Never run this script on your production database. This is only for Test Environment.

BizTalk 2004 Interview Questions

Check back later for more questions.

1. What are BizTalk artifacts?
2. What is Promoted Property?
3. What is Distinguished Field?
4. What is the difference between Promoted Property and Distinguished Field?
5. How do you debug Orchestrations?
6. What is HAT?
7. What is Functoid?
8. How do you develop a Custom Functoid? Which interface to use?
9. What transport protocols are supported in BizTalk?
10. What is MSMQT? How it is different from MSMQ?
11. What needs to be specially done to call a .net assembly from the BizTalk Orchestration?
12. What is xpath? How do you use xpath with Messages?
13. What is the difference between Static Port and Dynamic Port?
14. Why the ROOT Name and namespace combination in a schema has to be unique?
15. What is Correlation?
16. What are the transaction types available in an orchestration scope?
17. What is Compensation?
18. How do you catch exceptions inside the orchestration?
19. How do you publish an orchestration as web service?
20. What is Receive Location and Receive Port?
21. What are the adapters available with BizTalk 2004?
22. How do you set up MSMQ and MSMQT in the same machine?
23. What are the components available in an orchestration tool box?
24. What is the difference between Call Orchestration and Start Orchestration shapes?
25. How do you deploy the BizTalk assemblies in a Production Box?
    

Large messages in BizTalk 2004

Nice article on how to deal with large messages in BizTalk 2004. Read it here