DotNetizen

Gotcha: Initial Value property of BizTalk orchestration integer variable

2011-12-12T13:03:00.000-06:00

Define a variable in an orchestration and choose type as int32. We can see that value property is blank and we can tab out from property window. But if we specify some default value for Initial Value property , tab out, go back and try to delete it , we get a popup window with error as "Property value is not valid.". To me , this looks like a bug in editor (unless I miss something here!!!). Here

Gotcha: BizTalk Map

2011-12-10T08:40:00.000-06:00

Did you ever find that, simply mapping link from source schema node to target schema node in BizTalk map doesnt stick as you intended to the mapping surface, but everything else seems to look fine? Here is something to check out, see if value property on target schema node is set to some default value.If there is any value set, then we would not be able to map to that node until we clear out

Gotcha: Host instance set up during BizTalk Server reinstallation

2011-11-21T11:26:00.000-06:00

Recently we had an intance where one of VM's had crashed which has BizTalk server installed on it with its databases on SQL Server hosted on a different machine. We then reinstalled and set up BizTalk Server and associated components. Since the other machine which has SQL Server was not down, we could see that all our application configuration (like applications, bindings, hosts, host instances

SQL query for multi keyword search

2011-10-17T16:33:00.000-05:00

I recently came across a scenario where user enters multiple search keywords separated by delimitor character and needs to retrieve all rows from SQL Server database when certain column contains at least one of the words in the given list. I thought, this is common scenario with search screens. Thus I am posting queries I used to do this, if anyone likes to use this approach. User enters list of

Observation while managing multiple configurations with Azure Configuration Wizard

2011-09-18T13:38:00.000-05:00

Azure SDK 1.5 (recently released during Build-2011 event) provides us ability to add multiple configuration files(For eg. Local, Staging, QA, PROD etc.) and we can choose any of these configuration files during Package or Publish options. When we use properties window to set configuration (right click on any role under roles and choose Properties) and see that lot of properties are disabled,

GuestBook sample in WAPTK can be used this way too!!!

2011-08-28T14:30:00.000-05:00

In this blog post, I would like the share my experience on how I could leverage GuestBook sample in WAPTK to address a real life issue. I and my wife were doing a voice chat with her parents who are in India during this weekend and they reported that they were having an issue while creating a profile on a web site (You can see the registration here) and the issue is, the photo they have taken

Gotcha: BizTalk HTTP adapter on IIS 7.0 and above

2011-05-02T16:45:00.000-05:00

Recently I needed to set up HTTP receive adapter(BizTalk 2009) on my Windows 7 development machine which has IIS 7.0. Source system is going to send a simple date value through query string parameter of HTTP site URL (like http://server/AppName/BTSHTTPReceive.dll?MyDate=datevalue). I followed instructions stated here on MSDN documentation and tested the set up by pointing to the site URL in a

Gotcha: BizTalk ScheduleTask Adapter

2011-04-28T16:34:00.000-05:00

Why to use BizTalk ScheduleTask Adapter? As we already know, regular schedule functionality available with BizTalk receive locations allows us to set only start and end date/time and this may not be sufficient in some cases (for eg. run once in a day, run every few hours etc.). One of the alternatives we could use is to set up a Schedule task functionality available Windows operating system and

Gotcha: Order of input parameter of BizTalk Map functoid

2011-03-07T22:42:00.001-06:00

I often tend to oversee this and realize only after wasting few test cycles. When a functoid has multiple input parameters and any input link other than last link is deleted and added, new link gets added as the last link instead of in its original position. This would adversely affect end result of functoids for which ordering is important (like Value Mapping, String Concat etc). For eg. when

Fix: "Error occurred while configuring the connection uri. Invalid URI: The hostname could not be parsed."

2011-01-31T15:46:00.000-06:00

While generating schemas using WCF-SQL Adapter wizard, following error occurs if server name and instance name are not provided separately in Server Name and Instance Name fields under Config Adapter\Uri Properties tab, "Error occurred while configuring the connection uri. Invalid URI: The hostname could not be parsed." HTH.

Tip: To find last updated timestamp of SQL Server objects

2011-01-19T15:35:00.000-06:00

Recently, I was having a need to quickly find the recently deployed stored procedure between two SQL Servers. But I found that, only Created date property is available when I right clicked and looked at the properties of Stored procedure. We can get this information by querying for modify_date column in Sys.Objects system view (or object specific views like Sys.Procedures/Sys.Tables/Sys.Views etc

Tip: How to add shortcut/hot key to open Source Control explorer in Visual Studio

2011-01-17T11:56:00.001-06:00

Although we currently have various ways to open Source Control Explorer in Vistual Studio IDE, I though it would be nice to have a shortcut or hot key to open Source Control Explorer (as we access it frequently for various needs while working in team environment). We can seet that, View->Other Windows-> Source Control Explorer does not have any shortcut key associated with it like other options

TIp: related to adapters of BizTalk Adapter Pack

2011-01-06T15:27:00.001-06:00

After installing the BizTalk Adapter Pack, we can see it listed in the programs list and bindings get listed when we choose WCF-Custom adapter type. But I recently realized that, we need to manually add each adapter of Adapter pack in order use directly instead of WCF-Custom adapter with respective binding type. Steef has explained these steps in detail nicely in this blog post. Although we could

Tip : To easily remember names of Azure AppFabric Service Bus bindings

2010-12-11T00:12:00.000-06:00

In this blog post, I am going to share some shortcuts or fast facts to easily remember Azure AppFabric Service Bus (will refer this as AFSB) bindings. Every AFSB binding contains the name "Relay" to denote the fact that relaying is the core nature of these bindings. The two AFSB bindings that do not have corresponding WCF bindings are NetOnewayRelayBinding and NetEventRelayBinding. Names of all

Tip: Replicating BizTalk Server 2010 dashboard settings across Host(Instance)s

2010-12-04T23:33:00.000-06:00

One of the core enhancements introduced with BizTalk 2010 edition is improved BizTalk Settings Dashboard. This feature provides us an unified location to set various performance tuning settings at Group or Host or Host Instance level. In order to open this settings window, right click on BizTalk Group and choose Settings. We can also find Import and Export options on this window which allows us

Tip: How to find latest version of Azure installer file?

2010-11-29T23:20:00.000-06:00

I have been observing that, names of Azure SDK(WindowsAzureSDK-x64 or WindowsAzureSDK-x32) and Azure Tools for Visual Studio (VSCloudService) installer files remain same across multiple releases. I wish, Azure team could have added some description about version or release in the file name itself in order to easily distinguish between various releases. Here is a way to find the latest version of

Tip: Verification of imported BizTalk assemblies after deployment

2010-11-23T12:49:00.000-06:00

As we all know, we need to import and install BizTalk assemblies in order to use at run time and these assemblies get GACed during install operation and inserted into BizTalkMgmtDb database during import operation. If we are not updating version for the assemblies and overwrite with new assemblies each time(although this is not preferrable), it is important to make sure that assemblies are

Tip: Specifying Key file path for BizTalk projects

2010-11-08T23:11:00.002-06:00

As we know, key file needs to be specified for any BizTalk project in order for assembly to have strong name before GAC/deploy the same. We could specify this key file either through project properties or in AssemblyInfo.cs file. We can conveniently specify the path to key file if we choose the later. But if we specify the path to key file using Project Properties window, I observed that a copy

Fix : Dll locking issue by Visual Studio

2010-11-08T13:19:00.003-06:00

I have observed the following error while building BizTalk schemas and maps projects. Unable to copy file "obj\Deployment\Schemas.dll" to "bin\Deployment\Schemas.dll". The process cannot access the file 'bin\Deployment\Schemas.dll' because it is being used by another process. I could get rid of this annoying error after doing following tasks, 1. Paste the following script in PreBuild events

Are you .NET developer..check this out!!!

2010-02-11T22:10:00.001-06:00

Since its inception, .NET has emerged as major choice for implementing heterogeneous applciations. Being a developer or consultant, we may need to develop solutions of different nature which may involve various aspects of .NET framework. So it is always important to be aware of latest and greatest features of the platform.Here is a good list of major .NET features on MSDN, http://

Tip - Missing Add Service Reference in Visual Studio 2008(and above)??

2009-10-06T16:33:00.001-05:00

If we choose any Framework earlier than .NET Framework 3.0 while creating project or migrate an existing project from older version of Visual Studio, we might not find Add Service Reference in the context menu when you right click on the project. Here is a way to update to the framework version of the project and get Add Service Reference option in the context menu (Project should be saved before

Exception Caught: Cannot load source/destination schema: .

2009-08-27T14:40:00.003-05:00

Issue: Ever got the following exception while trying to build BizTalk map project? Exception Caught: Cannot load source/destination schema:. .. Either the file/type does not exist, or if a project dependency exists, the dependent project is not built. Cause: You might probably have an empty namespace for schema file(not schema node) shown in the error above. Usually when we create a schema,

Tip - Solution name is invisible in solution explorer!!!!

2009-04-14T11:57:00.001-05:00

Ever wondered why you are not able to see the solution name in order to add more projects after adding first project to the solution ?? Show All files also doesnt get the Solution back..Here is a tip to get it back... Go to Tools->Options ->Projects and Solutions ->General and select Always show solution checkbox ..thats it!! any guess, why would this not be a default setting for VisualStudio??

Installed BizTalk Server 2006 or BizTalk Server 2006 R2?

2009-04-12T22:48:00.001-05:00

It is very easy to differentiate between most of the Biztalk Server versions by just looking at the Start Menu Program list or Administration Console etc. But things are not very straightforward when it comes to differentiate between Biztalk Server 2006 and 2006 R2. As BizTalk Server name on Start menu and Help->About <> on Administration Console do not clearly show whether current Biztalk Server

Some random BizTalk Server facts!!!

2009-03-21T23:24:00.001-05:00

Here is an attempt to compile some vital information related to BizTalk server that might be useful to be aware of. I will keep updating this post as I find more interesting facts to share with. Also please feel free to let me know, if there are any corrections to the facts listed below or other useful facts. Default number of Retry's that an atomic shape in an orchestration has (not sure yet, if