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Walkthrough: Custom Message Processing with the WCF-NetTcp Adapter

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In this walkthrough a Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) client submits a WCF message containing embedded binary JPEG image data to a BizTalk receive location using the WCF-NetTcp adapter. The binary encoded JPEG image gets extracted by using an XPath statement (with Base64 Node encoding) through the Inbound Message Body settings in the adapter’s configuration. XPath processing differs from the default method that BizTalk Server uses to handle incoming messages. In the default method, the adapter obtains the entire contents of the Body element of the WCF message, and then submits it to the BizTalk MessageBox database. XPath message processing extracts specific parts of an incoming WCF message to create a custom BizTalk message. In this sample XPath processing locates an XML element named SendPicture in the incoming WCF message (which is in XML format). After finding that element, XPath extracts the element's value as a binary Base64 encoded object, and places that binary value into a BizTalk message. The message is published to the MessageBox database, then output to a FILE send port with the help of a send port filter subscription. No orchestrations are used in this sample, and all the processing is done through BizTalk messaging using XPath.

A WCF adapter is used to communicate with Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) clients and WCF remote services from BizTalk Server. It allows orchestrations and schemas to be published as WCF services, and also provides the ability for an orchestration to consume external WCF services. The WCF-NetTcp adapter uses the NetTcpBinding binding, which means the TCP transport using an optimized binary message encoding. The WCF-NetTcp adapter consists of both a send adapter and a receive adapter. It provides full access to SOAP security, reliability, and transaction features.

After completing this walkthrough, you will understand how to perform the following tasks:

  • By using the BizTalk Server Administration console, import an MSI file to create a send port, a receive port, and a receive location.

  • By using the BizTalk Server Administration console, configure a WCF receive location to run an XPath statement to extract data from the SendPicture element of the WCF message.

Note

The hosttrusted element specifies whether the host associated with the receive handler is trusted. In the bindings.xml file, it is set to its default setting of false because in this sample we don't care about the BizTalk Server Enterprise Single Sign-On service (SSO). SSO allows the passing of user credentials through BizTalk Server to integrate third-party applications with BizTalk Server. A false setting prevents a BizTalk message from passing through the BizTalk service as part of the SSO processing.

Prerequisites

To perform the steps in this sample ensure that your environment installs the following prerequisites;

  • Both the computer that builds the assemblies and runs the deployment process, and the computer that runs the sample, require Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2, Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5, and Microsoft BizTalk Server.

  • The computer used to build the assemblies and run the deployment process requires Microsoft Visual Studio.

  • The computer that runs the sample requires the WCF Adapters and the WCF Administration Tools. These are options to install during setup of Microsoft BizTalk Server.

  • On the computers that you use to perform administrative tasks, you must run as a user account that is a member of the BizTalk Server Administrators group to configure the BizTalk Server application settings within the BizTalk Server Administration console. This user account must also be a member of the local Administrators group for application deployment, managing host instances, and other tasks that may be required.

  • On any computer that requires WCF capability, complete the one-time setup procedure for the WCF samples at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=135510.

  • On the computer that runs the sample and imports an .msi file into BizTalk Server, ensure the host is not a trusted host or the import will fail.

  • You must download the walkthrough code and extract it to your computer. This walkthrough is a part of the entire WCF Adapter Walkthrough package. You can download the file WCFAdapterWalkthroughs.exe from the BizTalk Server Developer Center at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=194140.

Configure the WCFCustomMessageProcessing application and artifacts

  1. In the BizTalk Server Administration console, right-click Applications, select Import, and then select MSI file. Go to the C:\WCFCustomMessageProcessing\WCFCustomMessageProcessing.msi file, and then click Open. This creates the following artifacts for this application:

    • FileSP send port: The location on the local file system of C:\WCFCustomMessageProcessing\Out where the JPEG image data is sent by BizTalk Server as the final output of the sample processing. You can view the send port filter of BTS.ReceivePortName = NetTcpRP configured in the FileSP Properties dialog box under Filters. The filter is associated with the NetTcp receive port. Any messages accepted on the NetTcpRP receive port will be sent to the FileSP send port output location of C:\WCFCustomMessageProcessing\Out after the receive location executes the XPath processing on the message.

    • NetTcpRP receive port: The port that logically contains the NetTcpRL receive location.

    • NetTcpRL receive location: This uses the default PassThroughTransmit pipeline and the WCF-NetTcp adapter to run an XPath statement to pull the JPEG image data out of the incoming WCF message.

Alternative steps to configure the WCFCustomMessageProcessing application

  • Alternatively, here are the manual steps to configure the application without using the C:\WCFCustomMessageProcessing\bindings.xml file. You do not need to do this if the previous binding file import process works correctly. But, reading it may increase your knowledge of what is going on with the MSI file.

  • Create a one-way receive port (NetTcpRP) and a receive location (NetTcpRL).

    1. Expand the WCFCustomMessageProcessing application, right-click Receive Ports, select New, and select One-way Receive Port. In the Receive Port Properties dialog box, enter NetTcpRP for Name, and click OK.

    2. Right-click the NetTcpRP receive port, select New, and select Receive Location. In the Receive Location Properties dialog box, enter NetTcRL for Name. In the Transport section, click the Type drop-down list box, select WCF-NetTcp from the drop-down list, and then click Configure.

    3. On the General tab, enter net.tcp://localhost/NetTcpRL/Image in the Address(URI) field.

    4. On the Security tab, set the Security mode to None.

    5. On the Message tab, select the Path option for the Inbound BizTalk message body, and enter /*[local-name()="SendPicture" and namespace-uri()='http://tempuri.org/']/*[local-name()="stream"] for the body path expression. Select Base64 as the Node Encoding. The Path option is set to value because the body of the WCF message that BizTalk Server receives is in the following format: <SendPicture xmlns="http://tempuri.org/"><stream>actual base 64 encoded binary image data</stream></SendPicture>

    6. In the Receive Location Properties dialog box, click OK.

  • Create a one-way file send port (FileSP) subscribed to the NetTcpRP receive port.

    1. Right-click Send Ports, select New, and select One-way Receive Port. Select Static One-way Port. Enter FileSP for Name.

    2. In the Transport section, click the Type drop-down list box, select FILE from the drop-down list, and then click Configure.

    3. Under Destination Folder enter C:\WCFCustomMessageProcessing\Out, and click OK.

    4. Click Filters, select BTS.ReceivePortName == NetTcpRP, and then click OK.

Configure the send port and run the application

  1. Right-click the WCFCustomMessageProcessing application and select Start. That will enlist the NetTcpRL receive location and start the FileSP send port.

  2. In Visual Studio, open up the Client.sln file from the C:WCFCustomMessageProcessing\Client folder. In Solution Explorer, right-click the Client project and select Build.

  3. In Visual Studio, select Debug, and then select Start Without Debugging to run the Client.exe application. A command prompt will appear saying the image was submitted to BizTalk Server.

  4. Observe the successful {GUID}.jpg file output to the send port file folder of C:\WCFCustomMessageProcessing\Out. This shows that the application processing to extract the JPEG file and write it out to a FILE send port completed successfully.