How to Send & Receive Custom Headers from a WCF Service in Orchestration?

In many practical scenarios, Headers of the WCF Message are used to Establish Session / Send some sensitive / routing information
In this post I will show you how to Send and Receive data through Custom Headers from a WCF Service.

Solution:

Scenario:
Orchestration adds Header and Sends to the Service -> Service Receives the Header and writes to EventLog -> Service adds and outbound header and sends back to Orchestration -> Orchestration Receives the Header

1. Create a Sample WCF Service that gets the value from the Incoming Message and adds an outbound header to the outgoing message. Sample code is given below.

public string GetHeaderValue(string HeaderName, string URI)
{
// Receive Inbound Header

string val = OperationContext.Current.IncomingMessageHeaders.GetHeader(HeaderName, URI);
EventLog.WriteEntry("Received Header", "Header Value: " + val);

// Send Outbound Header
MessageHeader header = MessageHeader.CreateHeader("Test","Test.com","TestValue");
OperationContext.Current.OutgoingMessageHeaders.Add(header);

return val;
}

2. Deploy the Service and Consume it in a BizTalk Project. It creates input message schema, orchestration, output message schema, port type and Binding Files.
3. Create 3 Message as shown below in the Orchestration.

Let Message_1 and Message_2 represent Input Message Schema and Message_3 represent Output message Schema

4. Create a Receive Shape, set the Message property to Message_1, activate to True
5. Add a Construct messsage shape, set the Message Constructed property to Message_2. We pass header message to the Service by using the property (WCF.OutboundCustomHeaders). Add the following code in the Message Assignment shape.

Message_2 = Message_1;
Message_2(WCF.OutboundCustomHeaders) = @"From Clietn";

Resulting Orchestration should be like below


Note: In this step, I created a new message Message_2 (same schema as Message_1) rather than editing a Message_1 because, messages in BizTalk are Immutable. I alse added the header to the message which will be passed to the Server.

6. Add a send shape, and set the Message property to Message_2.
7. Add a port to the Orchestration and set the port type to the existing port type which is created automatically while consuming the Service.
8. Join the Send shape with the receive port of Service. Resulting orchestration should be like below

9. Add a receive shape and set the Message Property to Message_3 and connect the Response port of the Service with the Send shape.


10. Create a string variable and add an expression shape to extract the Headers that the service sent using the property

Variable_1 = Message_3(WCF.InboundHeaders);
System.Diagnostics.EventLog.WriteEntry("InBound Headers", "Received InBound Headers: " + Variable_1);

11. Now add a Send Shape, Receive and Send ports and complete the Orchestration


12. Deploy the Service and place the below file in the input folder.

<ns0:GetHeaderValue xmlns:ns0="http://tempuri.org/">

<ns0:HeaderName>FromClient</ns0:HeaderName>

<ns0:URI>FromClient.com</ns0:URI>

</ns0:GetHeaderValue>

Note: Input will vary depending on the Logic you use.

13. In the event log, it should display two events.


14. One will be created by the service (Step 1) after it received the inbound header) and One will be Created by the Client Orchestration after it receives the header from the service. (Step 10).

Hope it is helpful. Mail me if you need the source code.
- Shiv

Splitting XML Files using Envelope Schema

Envelope Schema is a special type of schema used in BizTalk Server that is used to represent more than one XML messages embedded in it.

You can use Envelope schema to Split up a Batch XML into individual Files or Split up an XML file that has more that one Embedded XML files into individual Files. This is show below.

1. Split up a Batch XML into Individual XML files.

Eg: Input – Batch XML File

<Items>

<Item>

<ID>1</ID>

</Item>

<Item>

<ID>2</ID>

</Item>

</Items>

Output  - two Individual XML Files

 

<Item>

<ID>1</ID>

</Item>

and

 

<Item>

<ID>2</ID>

</Item>

1. Split up an XML file that has more than one Embedded XML files into individual Files

Eg: Input – Has two types of XML Files

<Items>

<Item1>

<ID1>1</ID1>

</Item1>

<Item2>

<ID2>2</ID2>

</Item2>

</Items>

Output – Two separate xml files

<Item1>

<ID1>1</ID1>

</Item1>

and

<Item2>

<ID2>2</ID2>

</Item2>

Solution:

1. Create a new BizTalk Server Project and two Schemas – Schema1 & Schema2 as shown below


2. Create a new Schema Schema3 and rename the Root Node to Envelope or some thing else


3. Scheme and Go to Properties and make Envelope property to Yes


4. Now select the Root Node Envelope and Go to Properties. Click on the Ellipses next to Body XPath and Select the Root Node itself. ( Here you are specifying that the Body of the Envelope starts with the Root Node itself)


5. Deploy the Application
   


6. Create One File Receive Port and 2 File Send Ports. Use XML Receive pipeline for Receive Port and pass through pipeline for the send ports.


7. Since we are not using any orchestrations for receiving/routing the separated individual XML files, we have to set the Filter properties of Both the send ports to Subscribe for the individual XML files as given below.

For Send Port1 -  BTS.MessageType == http://BizTalk_Server_Project2.Schema1#Root1

For Send Port2 -  BTS.MessageType == http://BizTalk_Server_Project2.Schema2#Root2

Note: Change the Values according to your project, schema and Root Names. It should be in the format TargetNamespace+#+RootName

8. Create an Envelope XML file which has Embedded XML files of Schema1 & Schema2


<ns0:Envelope xmlns:ns0="http://BizTalk_Server_Project2.Schema3">






<ns1:Root1 xmlns:ns1="http://BizTalk_Server_Project2.Schema1">






<Field1>Field1_0</Field1>




</ns1:Root1>








<ns2:Root2 xmlns:ns2="http://BizTalk_Server_Project2.Schema2">






<Field2>Field2_0</Field2>




</ns2:Root2>






</ns0:Envelope>




9. Drop the above XML in the Receive Folder. Very soon it will be split up into 2 separate XML Files


<ns1:Root1 xmlns:ns1="http://BizTalk_Server_Project2.Schema1">






<Field1>Field1_0</Field1>




</ns1:Root1>



and

<ns2:Root2 xmlns:ns2="http://BizTalk_Server_Project2.Schema2">






<Field2>Field2_0</Field2>




</ns2:Root2>




10. These two will be stored in the two folders specified in the Send Ports

- Shiv

Issue: Unable to add parameters in Call Rules Shape

I created my first BRS Rule (using  XSD) in BizTalk Server Business Rules Composer and deployed it.

When I tried to call this rule from Call Rules shape of an Orchestration, it didn’t give my any option to add an input parameter to the Rules

After browsing for some time, I find that it happened because, the Document Type Property for the Schema in the Facts Explorer (shown above) is different from the Fully Qualified name of the Actual Schema in the BizTalk Project

So, I modified Document Type Property of the Schema in the Business Rules Composer to the Fully Qualified Name as in the BizTalk Server Project as shown below

Then the parameter is shown in the Call Rules Shape



Result:

The issue is that, in the beginning, Call Rules shape was not able to find any matching Message to the Schema which is deployed with the Rule.

Since I modified the schema in BRE with the Fully Qualified Name of the BizTalk solution, it found a matching message and displayed in the Call Rules Shape.

Hope it is useful..

- Shiv

Auto Mapping feature in BizTalk Mapper

Many of us are not aware that BizTalk Mapper can map the Source Fields to Destination Fields automatically.

There are two options available for Auto Linking.
1. Structure
2. Node Name

This can be seen by clicking on the Grid between the Source and Destination schemas and opening the properties.


Auto Link by Structure:

This will map source fields with destination fields one by one (structure wise) without looking for the name of the node.

This can be achieved by holding SHIFT Key and dragging from the source Root node to the destination Root node




Auto Link by Node Name:

This will map the Source node to the matching destination node.

This can also be achieved by setting AutoLink By Property to Node Name and holding SHIFT Key and dragging from the source Root node to the destination Root node




- Shiv

Catching SOAP Faults from WCF Service in BizTalk Orchestration

This Link has the Structure of Soap Version 1.1 & 1.2 Fault Message

This post will show how to Catch a Soap Fault returned by a WCF Service in a BizTalk Orchestration.

1. Consume a WCF Service and Implement the Logic for Sending the Request and Receiving the Response from the WCF Service.


2. Right Click on the PortType and Select New Fault Message as shown below.


3. A new fault port will then be created as shown below


4. Now set the Message Type to either Soap Fault 1.1 or 1.2 as shown below


5. Add a scope block to the Orchestration, set the transaction type to None and an Exception handler


6. Give any Valid Name to the Object Name and Set Object Type to Fault_1


7. Keep a Message Assignment shape in the Exception Handler and assign the captured fault to another Message


8. Handle the Message as required

Note: Message_3 should be of Soap_Fault type as selected in Step 4.
- Shiv

Using BizTalk Server Config File

Assume that you have a Class Library where all the commonly used functions are written and compiled.

If that class library uses any keys from an app.config file, how will you add those keys in BizTalk Server Runtime?

Answer is very simple.

BizTalk Server too has a config file which will be access during runtime.

So, if you use any external library in any orchestration and if that External Library needs any key values from Config file, all those key value pairs should be copied to the BizTalk Server Config file for the Orchestration to run properly.

BizTalk Server config file can be found the below location.

32 Bit:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009\BTSNTSvc.exe.config

 

64 Bit:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009\BTSNTSvc64.exe.config

So, next time if your external library is using any config file, make sure that all those keys are also there in BizTalk Server Config file.

Note: Once the config file is updated, host instance should be restarted to reflect the values.

- Shiv

Cross Reference Functoids in BizTalk Server

While using BizTalk server for Integration of Applications, we may face a situation where a Value - for Eg: A status of "Pending" - in Application1 may have to be mapped to an equivalent and different value in Application2.

Literally, you may receive a message in which Status is "Pending" and assume you may have to map this to a status call "On Hold" to an outgoing message.

How can we achieve this??

There are many possible ways.

1. Write an inline script / xslt in a Scripting Functoid

2. Use an External dll that takes an input and returns an equivalent output

3. Use of BizTalk Server Cross Reference Functoids.

4. Custom Functoids and Lots of more options....

This article will describe the use of BizTalk Server Cross Reference.

Problem:

Assume that you input message status has to be mapped to an output message status in the following way.

Input Status (Application1 Message) --> Output Status (Applicaiton2 Message)--> Common Value which we use to Represent both of them

1. Approved --> Accepted --> Accept

2. Pending --> On Hold --> Hold

3. Denied --> Stopped --> Deny

Approach:

The idea behind the Cross Reference is Simple.

a) You create XML Files that represent the Cross Reference Data.

b) These XML files (data) are imported to a set of Tables inside BizTalk Management Database using a Cross Reference Utility

There are 2 types of Cross Reference - ID Cross Reference and Value Cross Reference.

The purpose of both of them will be same and the way they operate internally will be different.

c) From the input message, if you receive the status as "Approved"  use this status "Approved" and the Application Source as "Application1" and find the Common Value "Accept"

(This is done using Get Common Value / Get Common Id Functoids)

d) Use the Common Value as "Accept" and use the Application Name as "Application2" and find the key word "Accepted" which is mapped to Application2

(This is done using Get Application Value / Get Application Id Functoids)

Solution:

Hope this gives an Idea. So lets start working on the above 4 points.

Using ID Cross Referencing.

a) create XML Files that represent the Cross Reference Data.

Below are the XML Files Required for ID Cross Referencing.

SetUp-Files Document- Download the Sample here

listOfAppType Document- Download the Sample here

listOfAppInstance Document- Download the Sample here

listOfIDXRef Document - Download the Sample here

listOfIDXRefData Document - Download the Sample here

Purpose of the above XML Files:

SetUp-Files - This will have the path to all other files

listOfAppType - This will have the list of applications. In our case it is "Application1" and "Application2"

listOfAppInstance - For each Application created, an instance should be created

listOfIDXRef - This XML file will hold the IDs for which we create Data. In our case it is the "Status"

listOfIDXRefData -  This file will hold the data for Common value, "Application1" data and "Application2" Data

b) Modify the above XML files.

SetUp-Files:

Create a folder named IDXref in C Drive and copy all the XML files to that location. The name of the XML files that you mention in the Setup file should match the physical name of the XML Files.

Update the Setup-File like below.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<Setup-Files>

<App_Type_file>c:\IDXref\ListOfAppType.xml</App_Type_file>

<App_Instance_file>c:\IDXref\ListOfAppInstance.xml</App_Instance_file>

<IDXRef_file>c:\IDXref\ListOfIDXRef.xml</IDXRef_file>

<IDXRef_Data_file>c:\IDXref\ListOfIDXRefData.xml</IDXRef_Data_file>

</Setup-Files>

 

listOfAppType - Here we have 2 applications "Application1" & "Application2"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<listOfAppType>

<appType>

<name>Application1</name>

</appType>

<appType>

<name>Application2</name>

</appType>

</listOfAppType>

 

listOfAppInstance - Here create an Instance for each of the 2 applications.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<listOfAppInstance>

<appInstance>

<instance>Application1Instance</instance>

<type>Application1</type>

</appInstance>

<appInstance>

<instance>Application2Instance</instance>

<type>Application2</type>

</appInstance>

</listOfAppInstance>

 

listOfIDXRef - Here we create IDs for each of the cross referencing we do.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<listOfIDXRef>

<idXRef>

<name>Status</name>

</idXRef>

</listOfIDXRef>

 

listOfIDXRefData - Here we define the data for both "Application1" & "Application2"

<listOfIDXRefData>

<idXRef name="Status">

<appInstance name="Application1Instance">

<appID commonID="Accept">Approved</appID>

<appID commonID="Hold">Pending</appID>

<appID commonID="Deny">Denied</appID>

</appInstance>

<appInstance name="Application2Instance">

<appID commonID="Accept">Accepted</appID>

<appID commonID="Hold">On Hold</appID>

<appID commonID="Deny">Stopped</appID>

</appInstance>

</idXRef>

</listOfIDXRefData>

 

c) Now you have all the data that you need for your ID cross Reference. Now deploy these data to the BizTalk Management Database.

Give the following Command in your command prompt c:\IDXref\.

btsxrefimport  –file=setupfile

Note: Your current prompt should be pointing to the path c:\IDXref\. The name of the setup file should be setupfile.xml

Now log into the BizTalk Management Database, check the below tables.

xref_AppType, xref_AppInstance ,xref_IDXRef ,xref_IDXRefData.

These tables would have been updated with the data that you imported.

d) Using the Cross Reference in your MAP.

From the Tool box drop the Get Common ID Functoid and connect the Status field from your source schema to it.

Double Click the Get Common ID Functoid and add 2 more inputs as shown below



First Input – ID which you added in listOfIDXRef XML file.

Second Input – Application Instance from which the input is coming.

Third Input – Actual value which should be converted.

The output of this Functoid will be our common values. Eg: Accept, Deny, Hold based on the input.

Now drop the Get Application ID Functoid and connect the output of Get Common ID Functoid to this one.

Configure the Get Application ID Functoid Inputs as shown below.



First Input – ID which you added in listOfIDXRef XML file.

Second Input – Application Instance to which the input is to be converted.

Third Input – Common value from the Get Common ID Functoid.

The Output of this Functoid will be the equivalent Application2 value for the Application1 Input.

Using Value Cross Referencing:

Value cross Reference is used in the same way as ID Cross Reference. The only change is the Input to the Get Common Value and Get Application Value Functoids.

However there is a difference in which these two operate internally.

a) Create XML Files that represent the Cross Reference Data.

Below are the XML files required for Value Cross Referencing.

SetUp-Files Document- Download the Sample here

listOfAppType Document- Download the Sample here

listOfAppInstance Document- Download the Sample here

listOfValueXRef Document - Download the Sample here

listOfValueXRefData Document - Download the Sample here

Purpose of the above XML Files:

SetUp-Files - This will have the path to all other files

listOfAppType - This will have the list of applications. In our case it is "Application1" and "Application2"

listOfAppInstance - For each Application created, an instance should be created

listOfValueXRef - This XML file will hold the IDs for which we create Data. In our case it is the "Status"

listOfValueXRefData -  This file will hold the data for Common value, "Application1" data and "Application2" Data

b) Modify the above XML files.

SetUp-Files:

Create a folder named ValueXref in C Drive and copy all the XML files to that location. The name of the XML files that you mention in the Setup file

should match the physical name of the XML Files.

Update the Setup-File like below.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<Setup-Files>

<App_Type_file>c:\ValueXref\ListOfAppType.xml</App_Type_file>

<App_Instance_file>c:\ValueXref\ListOfAppInstance.xml</App_Instance_file>

<ValueXref_file>c:\ValueXref\ListOfValueXref.xml</ValueXref_file>

<ValueXref_Data_file>c:\ValueXref\ListOfValueXrefData.xml</ValueXref_Data_file>

</Setup-Files>

 

listOfAppType - Here we have 2 applications "Application1" & "Application2"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<listOfAppType>

<appType>

<name>Application1</name>

</appType>

<appType>

<name>Application2</name>

</appType>

</listOfAppType>

listOfAppInstance - Here create an Instance for each of the 2 applications.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<listOfAppInstance>

<appInstance>

<instance>Application1Instance</instance>

<type>Application1</type>

</appInstance>

<appInstance>

<instance>Application2Instance</instance>

<type>Application2</type>

</appInstance>

</listOfAppInstance>

listOfValueXref - Here we create IDs for each of the cross referencing we do.

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<listOfValueXRef>

<valueXRef>

<name>Status</name>

</valueXRef>

</listOfValueXRef>

listOfValueXrefData - Here we define the data for both "Application1" & "Application2"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<listOfValueXRefData>

<valueXRef name="Status">

<appType name="Application1">

<appValue commonValue="Accept">Approved</appValue>

<appValue commonValue="Hold">Pending</appValue>

<appValue commonValue="Deny">Denied</appValue>

</appType>

<appType name="Application2">

<appValue commonValue="Accept">Accepted</appValue>

<appValue commonValue="Hold">On Hold</appValue>

<appValue commonValue="Deny">Stopped</appValue>

</appType>

</valueXRef>

</listOfValueXRefData>

Note: While defining this XML, Application name is used. Whereas in IDXref Application Instance is used.

c) Now you have all the data that you need for your ID cross Reference. Now deploy these data to the BizTalk Management Database.

Give the following Command in your command prompt c:\ValueXref\.

btsxrefimport  –file=setupfile

Note: Your current prompt should be pointing to the path c:\ValueXref\. The name of the setup file should be setupfile.xml

Now log into the BizTalk Management Database, check the below tables.

xref_AppType, xref_AppInstance ,xref_ValueXref ,xref_ValueXrefData.

These tables would have been updated with the data that you imported.

d) Using the Cross Reference in your MAP.

From the Tool box drop the Get Common Value Functoid and connect the Status field from your source schema to it.



Double Click the Get Common Value Functoid and add 2 more inputs as shown below



First Input – ID which you added in listOfValueXRef XML file.

Second Input – Application Name (not Instance) from which the input is coming.

Third Input – Actual value which should be converted.

The output of this Functoid will be our common values. Eg: Accept, Deny, Hold based on the input.

Now drop the Get Application Value Functoid and connect the output of Get Common Value Functoid to this one.



Configure the Get Application Value Functoid Inputs as shown below.



First Input – ID which you added in listOfValueXRef XML file.

Second Input – Application Name (Not Instance name) to which the input is to be converted.

Third Input – Common value from the Get Common Value Functoid.

The Output of this Functoid will be the equivalent Application2 value for the Application1 Input.

- Shiv

Difference between publishing schema and publishing an orchestration as a WCF Service

One the major differences for publishing schema and publishing an orchestration as a WCF Service is the Coupling factor. Publishing an orchestration as a WCF Service leads to tight coupling. Where as publishing schema as a WCF Service achieves loose coupling.

When an orchestration is published as a WCF Service, the data (message) received via the WCF Service will be directly bound the Orchestration which is published.

On the other hand when a schema is published as a WCF Service, the data (BizTalk message) received via the WCF Service will be published to the BizTalk Server Message Box and hence any number of subscribers can subscribe for the message.

Post your comments if there are any more differences…

- Shiv

Error: Could not load file or assembly ‘EnvDTE, Version=7.0.3300.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a’ or one of its dependencies. The located assembly’s manifest definition does not match the assembly reference

This error might occur during deployment of BizTalk Project though there are no build errors in the project.

Many blogs suggest that the following key should be there in devenv.config file

<dependentAssembly>

<assemblyIdentity name="EnvDTE" publicKeyToken=

"b03f5f7f11d50a3a"/>

<bindingRedirect oldVersion="7.0.3300.0"

newVersion="8.0.0.0 "/>

</dependentAssembly>

But, this key will be mostly present in all the machines.

In such case, the below steps might resolve the error.

1. If the application is being deployed for the first time, make sure that the Redeploy Flag under the dependencies tab of project properties set to False

2. If the application is already deployed,

i) Stop the deployed application and terminate all instances

ii) Set the Enable Unit Testing Flag under the dependencies tab of project properties set to False and redeploy flag set to true.

Now try to redeploy again.



- Shiv

Visual Studio 2008 - Could not connect to TFS - Resetting Visual Studio Environment

Some time ago, when I opened Visual Studio 2008, I saw an error with TFS and I could connect to TFS.

Team Explorer didnt show up "Source Control" itself.

After little research I find that there is some thing wrong with SkipLoading tag and I tried to reset the Visual studio environment using devenv /ResetSkipPkgs  (*).

Then TFS Connected normally and every thing worked fine.

This link has more details about /ResetSkipPkgs switch.

Details on all the Development Environment Command Line Switches can be found here.

* - This command should be given in Visual Studio Command prompt Or open command window and go to the path "c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE" & type devenv /ResetSkipPkgs ( You may have to change the Version accordingly)

- Shiv

Object reference not set to an instance of an object – BizTalk WCF Service Consuming Wizard

While consuming a WCF Service using BizTalk WCF Service Consuming Wizard you may end up with an error..

“Error consuming WCF service metadata.

Object reference not set to an instance of an object”



One possible reason for this issue is that the WSDL Generated after consuming the Service might not have any namespace for the schema to be imported.

This can be resolved in simple steps as below.

1. Generate the metadata for the Service using Svcutil.exe as given below.

C:\>svcutil /target:metadata <WCF Service Address>

2. The above command will generate the Wsdl file and XML Schema file.


3. Copy the Target namespace from the XML Schema file (.xsd file) and paste it in the <xsd:schema> node of the wsdl file.


4. The Resultant <xsd:schema> node of the wsdl file should look some thing like this. <xsd:schema targetNamespace="http://Something.com">


5. Now run the BizTalk WCF Service Consuming Wizard and select the second option.


6. Add both the wsdl and schema file to the Wizard.


7. Import should now be successful.

Post your comments if any has an alternate solution.
- Shiv

First Steps in Learning BizTalk Server 2009.

The number of resources that you find for learning BizTalk Server is definitely less than those available for other MS Technologies ASP.NET or C# or Silver light.

Below is an approach which might be helpful for Beginners of BizTalk Server.
This approach assumes that you have good knowledge on C# and you are trying to Learn BizTalk Server from Basics.

1. Start by Reading the book Foundations of BizTalk server 2006.
I think, 2009 version has not come for this one. This is a very good book covering all the basic topics of BizTalk Server.
You can find the preview in the below link.

Foundations of BizTalk server 2006

2. While reading the book in #1, practice the BizTalk Server Virtual Labs from Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/en/us/virtual-labs.aspx

3. The next one is to go through BizTalk 2006 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach
This one will have a quick and simples solution for various tools and shapes used in BizTalk Server Development.

BizTalk 2006 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach

4. Once the above books are done. Start reading advances concepts on BizTalk. One of the good books available for this purpose is "Professional BizTalk Server 2006 R2"
Or you can also go through "Pro BizTalk 2009" or "SOA Patterns with BizTalk Server 2009: Implement SOA Strategies for BizTalk Server Solutions".
I find that "Professional BizTalk Server 2006 R2" is rather simpler and easier to use that the other professional books.

Professional BizTalk Server 2006

5. The next step is to gain more experiences and in-depth knowledge in Mapping.
For this go through "Pro Mapping in BizTalk Server 2009"

Pro Mapping in BizTalk Server 2009

6. For those who are working on BAM, there is an excellent one "Pro Business Activity Monitoring in BizTalk 2009"

Pro Business Activity Monitoring in BizTalk 2009

Other useful Resources on BizTalk Server.

1. MSDN Blogs:

BizTalk Engine - http://blogs.msdn.com/biztalk_core_engine/
Adapters - http://blogs.msdn.com/adapters/
B2B/EDI - http://blogs.msdn.com/BizTalkB2B/
RFID - http://blogs.msdn.com/biztalkrfid/

2. Video Tutorials

http://www.biztalk247.com/learnmedia.aspx

3. BizTalk Web Casts

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/biztalk/aa937645.aspx

4. BizTalk Server Documentation.

BizTalk Server Documentation

There are still lots of resources on this. I will keep updating this one when I find any thing useful.

- Shiv

External assembly not updated automatically with Scripting Functoids.

While using script Functoids to call a method in an external assembly, care should be taken with the Assembly version and PublicKeyToken.

 These values will be hardcoded in the map for that particular script functoid.

 For eg: as given below.

 <Script Language="ExternalAssembly" Assembly="MyAssembly, Version=1.1.0.6, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=352635678e269c8da" Function="Insert" AssemblyPath="..\..\bin\Debug\MyAssembly.dll" />

 If the source dll version or PublicKeyToken is modified, script functoid canonot automatically refere to the new version of the dll and it still refers to the old version of the dll.

 In this situation either of the below approaches should be followed to avoid Transformation Failure. 

1. Make sure that the old version of the dll is available in the GAC.


2. Modify the script functoid to refer to a new version of the dll.

 This can be done in 2 ways.

i)   Modify each script funtoid to point to a new assembly.

ii)  If you have many scripting Functoid using the same assembly, then Right Click on the Map and open with XML Editor. Search for the assembly and update the Version.

 Post your comments if any one has an alternate solution.