Microsoft BizTalk Server Basics

IntroductionBizTalk belongs to the Microsoft Server familyConnects disparate systems togetherCommunication among systems are established through messagesAll messages inside Biztalk are XML dataSince XML can be interpreted in any system, BizTalk helps in connectivity

Need for communicationAn organisation may follow a software with different configuration for a process and another software with entirely different configuration to take care of another processBoth processes may depend on each others dataFor example a companys attendance system need to be connected with payroll systemOr a purchase order need to be communicated to invoice generating system

History of BizTalk Server2000 Microsoft Released the first Version of BizTalkEditor Writing XML DataMapper Translate data from source format to destination formatManagement Desk Tracking dataProtocols supported EDI, HTTP, HTTPS, MSMQ, SMTP, FTP

History (contd...)2002 Next version. Not much change2004 Added Human Workflow Services (HWS) and Business Activity ServicesSupported by .Net framework 1.0Integrated VS 2003 support for editor and mapper2006 Business Activity Monitor (BAM) was added. Also Health and Activity Tracking component for tracking the server status was added..Net framework 2.0 supportIntegrated VS 2005 support

History (Contd...)2007 Also called as 2006 R2 (Release 2). Rich UI administration was incorporated..Net Framework 3.0 (WCF, WF) support2009 Recent version.RFID supportSeparate RFID Server)

Overview of Basic ConfigurationBasic configuration does not allow remote SQL server. To use remote SQL server use custom configurationThe following need to be configured:Enterprise SSO (Single Sign On)This is used for managing credentials of users who can log on the server.Enterprise SSO Secret BackUpThis keeps the password that can be used for taking a back up of credentials in case of any system crash.After configuring this component a database SSODB is created in MS SQL server

Basic Configuration Contd..GroupCollection of settings that govern the way BizTalk server behaves and the data store it usesAfter this step the following databases BizTalkMgmtDb, BizTalkMsgBoxDb, BizTalkDTADb are createdBizTalk RuntimeThis is to manage the routing capabilities

Basic Configuration Contd..MSMQ Microsoft Message Queue. This is to manage messages that are transferred to and from the serverBusiness Rules Engine This configuration takes care of business rules necessary for the server.The configurations are stored in BizTalkRuleEngineDb. Service used is Rule Engine update service.Initiates action based on evaluation

Basic Configuration Contd..HWS Human Workflow ServicesTwo componentsHWS RuntimeHWS Webservice encapsulates the functionality of client applications like sharepoint to provide workflow capabilities to information workersDB HwsDbService HWS Runtime Account and HWS Webservice AccountThis dynamically composes workflow

Basic Configuration Contd..BAM Business Activity MonitorBAM Tools Provides business users a set of monitoring toolsBAM Alerts Notification services are provided based on subscriptionUses DB like BAMAlertsNSMainApplicationBAMPrimaryImport, BAMStarSchema, BAMArchieve, BAMAnalysis are the other databases usedBAM Portal Service used is BizTalk EDI/AS2 Runtime. Messages are sent and received using EDI/AS2 Protocol

BizTalk Editor - OverviewEditor is used for generating Schema.BizTalk generates XDS (XML Schema Definition) as the application communicates through XMLEditor comes as a part of Visual Studio IDE.In VS IDE, create a biztalk project and add a schema file to create a schema.

Creating XSDOpen Visual Studio 2005 (if you are using BizTalk 2006 and higher version)Click on File -> New ProjectSelect BizTalk Projects and click on Empty BizTalk ApplicationGive a name and click OKIn the solution explorer, right click on the project and select Add -> New ItemSelect Schema Files on the left pane and select Flat File Schema Wizard.Refer to the screen shots for further processes.

Editor Overview

Flat File Schema WizardRefer to notes page for explanation

Generating XML from the XSDRight click on the Project and select Validate SchemaOnce the validation is over, click on Generate Instance Message.An empty XML file with sample data entry in accordance to the schema will be generated.This XML file can be modified and used with any application that supports XML.

BizTalk Mapper - OverviewMapper is a tool that is used for mapping dataThe source data is mapped with the destination dataSince BizTalk involves with connecting disparate systems, the source data need to be transformed to another format acceptable by the destination.Hence Mapper plays a vital role.Mapper too comes integrated with VS IDE.

Creating MapsOpen BizTalk Project containing the XSDsRight click on the project and select Add -> New Item.Select Maps in the left pane and Empty Map in the right paneGive a name for the map and click OKIt will open a GUI where we can select the source and the destination schema and map accordingly.Refer to the screen shots for more details.

FunctoidsFunctoids are functions that can be used with mapper.The source data can be applied with functoids and transformed to destination friendly data.Many functions for manipulating strings (concat, uppercase conversion etc), numbers (add,multiply etc), scientific functions (log, exponent etc), database are available.Refer to the tool bar, the violet color box in the grid in the previous picture.

BizTalk Administration ConsoleAdministration console is used for performing administrative tasks likeStarting and stopping an applicationTaking reports concerned with messages transferred, application usage etcConfiguring send and receiving portsAdding resources to the applicationManaging Orchestration, Maps, Schemas, Pipelines for the application

BizTalk ApplicationFeature of biz talk server that helps in deployment, management, trouble shooting of biz talk server solutionsLogical grouping of artifactsBiztalk and .Net assembliesSend ports, groupsReceive ports, locationsPoliciesCertificates, scripts, COM ComponentsBizTalk specific resources (schema, map, orchestration, pipeline)

OrchestrationsTo add orchestration for a biz talk project, right click on the project and select Add -> New ItemSelect Orchestration from the left pane and empty orchestration from the right paneGive a name for the orchestration and click OKA new orchestration designer with a file extension odx is opened.Use the tool bar to add components that we want.

PipelinesTo add pipelines for a biz talk project, right click on the project and select Add -> New ItemSelect Pipelines from the left pane and either send pipeline or receive pipeline from the right paneGive a name for the pipeline selected and click OKA new pipeline designer is opened.Use the tool bar to add components that we want.

Receive PipelineThis is for transforming data at the receiving endIt has Decoder to decode the incoming data (MIME decoder)Disassembler to convert data (flat file or any) to XMLValidator to validate the generated XML against a schema (XSD)Party Resolver To determine identity of party from who the message is received.

Send PipelineThis is present at the sending end for transforming the outgoing messageIt hasPre assembler optional component containing custom toolsAssembler Converting XML data to destination dataEncoder To encode the outgoing data

Human Workflow ServicesThis is for dynamically configuring workflowWe can define constraints and lot of other condtions and design the workflow.HwsDb stores details about workflow.Refer to screen shots in the following slides for more details about Human Workflow Services

Business Rule ComposerThis is used for composing business rulesWe can set an action to be performed upon an occurrence of an eventActions are evaluated based on the facts (rules)We can compose vocabulary (definitions) or policy (logical grouping of rules) using business rule composer.

EDI Electronic Data InterchangeHTTP Hyper Text Transfer ProtocolHTTPS HTTP SecureMSMQ Microsoft Message QueueSMTP Simple Mail Transfer ProtocolFTP File Transfer ProtocolCopy this and save to a text file:PO1999-10-20 US Alice Smith 123 Maple Street Mill Valley CA 90952 US Robert Smith 8 Oak Avenue Old Town PA 95819 ITEMS,ITEM872-AA|Lawnmower|1|148.95|Confirm this is electric,ITEM926-AA|Baby Monitor|1|39.98|Confirm this is electric

Once you give name for the schema, a wizard appears. Click NextUnder Instance file, give the path where the text file that you saved in the previous step has been placed.

Record name be PO (Purchase Order in this case it is the root tag)

Leave the target namespace and code page as it is and click NextContent of the file is shown. Click Next.Select Delimiter Symbol for the separator of each record. Click NextSelect Carriage Return / Line Feed (CR/LF) New line as the delimiter. That is every record is separated by a new line.

Check Record has tag identifier and give tag name as PO the root element

Click NextGive the settings as shown in the above figure.

For Field_1, give name as date and its a field element. Give the data type as dateFor the next line, give element type as Repeating Record as it is going to be repeated many times. The third line simply ignore. WE are concerned with schema and not data

Fourth item is a record that will be appear once.

Click NextThe schema got generated and we still need to configure the repeating record customer and a record items. Select Customer and click NextSelect the customer data and click Next.In the record format screen select By Relative Position to specify elements by specifying the position manually.Click using the left mouse button by placing cursor over the scale to mark the starting position. To unmark it, again click on it.

Repeat the same as we did in the previous step for elements. Here all are field elements Refer to the picture.Schema has been appended with new elements for customer tag.

Select items and click next to configure elements of items. Refer to the slides.Order:Document DataRecord FormatDelimited RecordChild ElementsNow we need to configure child elements for items. Select items and click Next.Select Document DataSelect Record FormatSelect Delimited Record and click next

Give the element descriptionClick FinishNew schema is generated.In the grid one could see the mappings from source to destination