Tip: Verification of imported BizTalk assemblies after deployment

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 imported and installed correctly.

We can easily verify the timestamp on assemblies in GAC to make sure that Install operation is successful. We can verify import operation of Schemas by looking at schema content(not timestamp though) inside BizTalk Admin Console( =>Schemas=> =>Right click and choose Schema View). But unfortunately there is no such direct way to verify contents or timestamp of  other types of BizTalk artifacts like map, orchestration etc. A work around to verify that would be to query against bts_assembly table in BizTalkMgmtDb database*. Here is a sample query to view recently deployed assemblies on top of the result set,

select * from bts_assembly order by dtDateModified desc

*Microsoft does not recommend accessing BizTalk databases directly.

HTH.

Tip: Specifying Key file path for BizTalk projects

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 of key file is being created in respective project folder and same is being referenced. But there may be times where we might want to specify key file from a different location to avoid multiple copies of key file. Here are couple of such scenarios,

1. When we like to maintain key file at some common location(like at root level) and share the same across multiple BizTalk projects/solutions

2. When we migrate BizTalk solutions from previous versions, they might contain the path to key file. If we need to change this through browse option, we get local copy of key file and lose the ability to choose different location.

Here is a manual work around to specify key file path at BizTalk project level,

Open BizTalk project in some text editor (like Notepad), and we can observe the following section in that,

For BizTalk Server 2010 project:
< PropertyGroup >
<SignAssembly > true/false</SignAssembly>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile><path to key file here></AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>
</PropertyGroup>

For BizTalk Server 2009 project:

<PropertyGroup >
<AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile><path to key file here></AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>
<SignAssembly > true/false</SignAssembly>
</PropertyGroup>

Specify key file path in the AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile node and save the file. Now we can see the same path in Properties window as well.

Fix : Dll locking issue by Visual Studio

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 section of
Schema Project->Properties window (found about this script on this blog entry),

if exist "$(TargetPath).locked" del "$(TargetPath).locked"

if not exist "$(TargetPath).locked" move "$(TargetPath)" "$(TargetPath).locked"

2.Set CopyLocal property of Schemas dll to False

UPDATE [06.14.2015]:
Here is another alternative to get rid of this error:

We get this error most likely when we add references to other projects or dll file from project bin directory directly. Instead build and GAC the referenced project and then add reference from GAC. This way even if we open both projects in different Visual Studio windows, we will not see this locking error.

HTH.

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

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 doing this) ,

Right click on the project and navigate to the following path,

Compile->AdvancedCompileOptions(button)->TargetFramework(dropdown)

Change the Framework version to .NET Framework 3.0 (or above)

Now we should be able to see Add Service Reference option!!!!!!

HTH..

Exception Caught: Cannot load source/destination schema: .

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,respective project name is assigned as namespace by default. But when we add any existing schema which does not have namespace(most likely received from third parties), this issue might occur.

Fix: Easy..Just provide a valid value to namespace property of schema file , build schemas project(if you have seperate project for Schemas which is a good practice indeed) and build map project now.

HTH

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

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??


Anyways, go ahead and explore all the Visual Studio menu items once to get to know more of such environment settings.

HTH

Installed BizTalk Server 2006 or BizTalk Server 2006 R2?

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 installation is 2006 or 2006 R2 descriptively(rather Product version is mentioned which is not very intuitive). So I just thought of listing some quick ways to easily find it here,

• While loading Visual Studio, Biztalk Server 2006 or Biztalk Server 2006 R2 is shown as one of the installed project templates in splash popup like window
• WCF Adapters stack are shown under Platform Settings->Adapters in Admin Console only for Biztalk Server 2006 R2
• Respective Product Version(3.5.1602.0 for BizTalk Server 2006 and 3.6.1404.0 for R2) is shown at following places,
• Help->About<> in any BizTalk Server's MMC
• Value of ProductVersion Key at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\BizTalk Server\3.0 in the registry
• Biztalkdbversion table in BizTalkMsgBoxDb

I am sure, there may be some more ways to find the same. Here is another informative blog about easily finding Biztalk Server versions.

HTH