BizTalk 2006 native WSS Adapter vs GotDotNet WSS Adapter - Features Overview
BizTalk 2006 native adapter for Windows SharePoint Services versus GotDotNet Windows SharePoint Services adapter, which one should you use? In my previous post, I have mentioned the shared source WSS Adapter available on GotDotNet and the fact that Microsoft has included a similar adapter in BizTalk 2006. So which one should you use? Well….the BizTalk native adapter if you ask me. But if you want to decide for yourself then look at the table below that compares the two adapters. I highlighted the better adapter capabilities using bold. I will follow up with a later post to detail each of these feature comparisons and why I have considered one adapter or the other to have a better implementation. Don’t hesitate to comment on this if you consider that information below is not accurate.
| Feature | BizTalk native adapter | GotDotNet v2 adapter | My Comments |
| Automatic setup and configuration Available out of the box | Yes | No | Automatically setup and configured when installing and configuring BizTalk Server 2006. |
| Dynamic integration with InfoPathDiscover the appropriate InfoPath solution and use it to open the XML document. | Yes | No | The BizTalk native adapter supports searching in document libraries for a matching InfoPath solution that can be used to open the Xml document. |
| Custom InfoPath Integration through pipeline | Yes | Yes | The standard XmlTransmit pipeline or a custom pipeline can be configured to add an InfoPath PI to the Xml document in order to have the Xml document open in InfoPath. |
| Performance counters | Yes | No | BizTalk native adapter implements a total of 10 performance counters. |
| Message property promotion into WSSBizTalk metadata or values extracted from the message using XPATHs can be saved in the SharePoint file columns. | Yes (16 columns max) | Yes (5 columns max) | Very similar capabilities but the syntax is slightly different. Both adapters support %MessageID% macro, GotDotNet adapter also supports the random %Guid% macro. BizTalk native adapter supports combining multiple macros including the XPATH macro. |
| File name definitionFile name definition based on message content and BizTalk properties. | Yes | Yes | Similar capabilities but different syntax (see Unified expression syntax). |
| Archive - file name definition and overwrite settingsArchive file name definition based on message content and BizTalk properties. Overwrite setting can be set explicitly for archived files. | Yes | No | The BizTalk native adapter allows you to specify a file name when the received file is archived. This is useful because different users use different file naming conventions but the archived files in general require a consistent naming convention. The overwrite archived files setting can also be configured explicitly. |
| Unified expression syntax | Yes | No | BizTalk native adapter supports same expression syntax for all receive location/send port properties. GotDotNet adapter has different syntax for different fields. BizTalk native adapter has a more consistent expressions syntax and more robust expressions validation. It also supports combining multiple macros including the XPATH macro. |
| Promotion of WSS file metadata to BizTalk message context propertiesWSS file information is made available to BizTalk through message context properties. These properties can be used from pipelines, orchestrations, CBR, etc. | Yes | Yes | All GotDotNet adapter context properties except ReceivedView are supported by the BizTalk native adapter or can be computed from a similar property. BizTalk native adapter supports additional properties and it also supports custom SharePoint columns through WSS.InPropertiesXml property. |
| Send to listSending documents to an arbitrary list (instead of document library). | Yes | No | In this case the document itself is not stored in WSS but the property promotion still happens so a new list item is created and the column values are retrieved from the message. Receiving from a list is not supported. |
| Dynamic send ports | Yes | Yes | Both adapters fully support dynamic send ports. All send port properties can be configured through the context properties. |
| Physical ports configured through context properties | Yes | Yes | Both adapters support configuration of all physical send port properties through the context properties.The BizTalk native adapter is more flexible, it supports all GotDotNet supported scenarios and more. BizTalk native adapter allows BT admins to change the send port settings defined in orchestration without recompiling the orchestration. |
| Runtime/Web Service interaction over HTTPS | Yes | No | Both adapters support exchanging messages with HTTP/HTTPS SharePoint sites but only BizTalk native adapter can do it over HTTPS. BizTalk native adapter runtime supports HTTP/HTTPS when communicating with the adapter web service. The GotDotNet adapter seems to not support HTTPS for communication with the adapter web service (this might be a bug). |
| Username/Password in SSO per endpoint | No | Yes | GotDotNet adapter supports Username/password properties stored in SSO in order to connect to the WSS using other credentials than the host credentials. BizTalk native adapter supports only integrated authentication/NTLM. |
| Multiple receive locations pointing to same document library | Yes | Yes | Same capabilities. The URI scheme and format are different. |
| Support for binary messages | Yes | Yes | Can be used to move Office or PDF files using PassThrough pipelines. |
| Batching | SendReceive | Receive | BizTalk native adapter implements batching both on send and on receive side. GotDotNet adapter implements batching only on receive side. Batching on send should improve performance. |
| Error threshold on receive | Yes | No | BizTalk native adapter receive locations can be configured to automatically shutdown after a specified number of consecutive errors. This feature can be disabled by setting error threshold to zero. |
| Source code available | No | Yes | GotDotNet adapter is made available by Microsoft under a Shared Source License so the code is available. BizTalk native adapter is shipped with Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 as a native adapter and no source code is available. |
| Supported by Microsoft | Yes | No | BizTalk native adapter is shipped with BizTalk 2006 so IMO it is supported by Microsoft. GotDotNet adapter is not supported by Microsoft. |
| Performance/stress tests | N/A | N/A | Nothing available yet. |
Comments
- Anonymous
July 30, 2005
Adrian Hamza hat ein Weblog gestartet, in dem er sich schwerpunktm - Anonymous
March 14, 2006
what is the syntax for specifying dynamic send port address for wss adapter? does it start with http://?
Also I tried to use xpath macro in filename property of wss send adapter, but it throws up the message expression must evaluate to nodeset.
Thanks
Ramani - Anonymous
March 15, 2006
No, it starts with wss:// or wsss:// (for secure wss://). For instance, wss://localhost:80/sites/MySite/DestinationLibrary
All the properties that you can config in the Send Port UI, can be also configured for dynamic ports throught the WSS.Config* context properties. For instance, use WSS.Filename to set the file name, use WSS.ConfigAdapterWSPort to configure the Adapter Web Service port, etc.
Regarding your xpath error, make sure that the xpath returns a text value (a node without children nodes) or just a single node. You might get this error if your xpath returns multiple nodes. - Anonymous
March 16, 2006
Adrian Hamza has created a nifty enhancement to the WSS Adapter Properties screen. The WssAdapterBrowseUI.dll... - Anonymous
March 28, 2006
I finally found some time and tried upgrading from BizTalk 2004 and GotDotNet WSS adapter to BizTalk... - Anonymous
August 22, 2006
I came across Adrian Hamza’s blog today. His blog seems to be totally dedicated to the Sharepoint - Anonymous
August 28, 2006
Here's a great comparison  between the 2004 version of the WSS adapter (GOTDOTNET version) and... - Anonymous
October 28, 2006
I came across Adrian Hamza’s blog today. His blog seems to be totally dedicated to the Sharepoint - Anonymous
February 07, 2007
Hi, As System Architect, I talk with Biztalk senior developers and architects many times to exchange...