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FlatFileReceive (BizTalk Server Sample)

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The FlatFileReceive sample demonstrates how you can use BizTalk Server to process a flat file into the equivalent .xml file.

What This Sample Does

This sample configures the folder FFInput as a receive location. When you place a file, such as the sample file FlatFileReceive_in.txt, into this folder, BizTalk Server processes the message in this file using the following sequence of steps:

  1. Reads the message from the input file in the receive location folder FFInput.

  2. In the receive pipeline, the Flat File Disassembler component converts the message from flat file format to the equivalent XML message.

  3. In the MessageBox database, the message is routed to a FILE send port that writes the XML message to a file in the send adapter folder FFOutput.

How This Sample is Designed and Why

The sample message dictates much of the basic design in this sample. Flat file messages must be disassembled using the Flat File Disassembler and a flat file schema within a custom receive pipeline. These and other design elements are summarized in the following table.

Design element Reason(s) selected
Custom receive pipeline - The custom pipeline uses the Flat File Disassembler and a flat file schema to translate inbound purchase order messages. The Flat File Disassembler is not itself a pipeline and cannot be used when configuring a receive pipeline in the BizTalk Server Management console.
Flat file schema - Define all of the same record and field characteristics (including structure) as an XML schema and provide a mechanism for defining all of the flat file characteristics that are required to translate a flat file instance message into an equivalent XML instance message (or vice versa).
Subscription filter - The subscription filter performs the actual routing by capturing messages that meet one or more criteria based on property fields.
XMLTransmit - Performs basic assembly of outgoing XML messages where needed. The PassThruTransmit pipeline provides no additional support.

These elements are combined to produce a solution that accepts purchase order messages in flat file format from the receive location and writes out the resulting XML representation to the send location.

The following considerations apply to the design of this sample:

  • The flat file schema (PO.xsd) contains extended annotations describing the structure of the purchase order flat file. These files can be created by hand, but many can be generated by using the Flat File Wizard.

  • The flat file schema uses an elementFormDefault value of Unqualified. This produces correct results but with additional and unexpected XML namespace (xmlns) qualifications. Use an elementFormDefault of Qualified to avoid this issue.

  • XmlTransmit is used as the send pipeline. Use the PassThruTransmit pipeline when property demotion or other messaging processing is not required in the send port.

Where to Find This Sample

<Samples Path>\Pipelines\AssemblerDisassembler\FlatFileReceive\

The following table shows the files in this sample and describes their purpose.

File(s) Description
Cleanup.bat Used to undeploy assemblies and remove them from the global assembly cache. Removes send and receive ports. Removes Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) virtual directories as needed.
FFReceivePipeline.btp BizTalk Server receive pipeline file with the Flat File Disassembler component.
FlatFileReceive.btproj, FlatFileReceive.sln Project and solution files for this sample.
FlatFileReceive_in.txt Sample input file.
FlatFileReceiveBinding.xml Used for automated setup such as port binding.
PO.xsd Schema for the inbound flat file.
Setup.bat Used to build and initialize this sample.

How to Use This Sample

Use this sample as the basis for your own flat file processing solution. You can extend many of the design elements used in this sample to fit your own requirements.

Building and Initializing This Sample

  1. In a command window, navigate to the following folder:

    <Samples Path>\Pipelines\AssemblerDisassembler\FlatFileReceive

  2. Run the file Setup.bat, which performs the following actions:

    • Creates the input (FFInput) and output (FFOutput) folders for this sample in the folder:

      <Samples Path>\Pipelines\AssemblerDisassembler\FlatFileReceive

    • Compiles and deploys the Visual Studio project for this sample.

    • Creates and binds the BizTalk Server receive location, and the send and receive ports.

      Note

      This sample displays the following warning when creating and binding ports: Warning: Receive handler not specified for receive location "FlatFileReceive_RL"; updating with first receive handler with matching transport type. You can safely ignore these warnings. (To accommodate for possible naming differences in user installations, the host name and receive handler have been omitted from the binding file.)

    • Enables the receive location, and starts the send port.

Note

You should confirm that BizTalk Server did not report any errors during the build and initialization process before attempting to run this sample.

Note

If you choose to open and build the project in this sample without running Setup.bat, you must first create a strong name key pair using the .NET Framework Strong Name utility (sn.exe). Use this key pair to sign the resulting assembly.

Note

To undo changes made by Setup.bat, run Cleanup.bat. You must run Cleanup.bat before running Setup.bat a second time.

Running This Sample

  1. Put a copy of the file FlatFileReceive_in.txt into the folder FFInput.

  2. Observe the .xml file created in the folder FFOutput. The name of the output file is based on the message ID GUID. This file contains XML equivalent of the flat file placed in the receive folder.

Classes or Methods Used in This Sample

The configuration scripts Setup.bat and Cleanup.bat rely on the following administrative Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) scripts:

  • Start Send Port\StartSendPort.vbs

  • Enable Receive Location\EnableRecLoc

  • Remove Send Port\RemoveSendPort

    The setup and cleanup batch files use BTSTask as follows:

  • BTSTask ImportBindings to apply the binding file and create the application, ports, and bindings

  • BTSTask RemoveApp to remove the FlatFileReceiveApplication

See Also