Using the BizTalk Adapters to Send and Receive Messages
For the latest version of Commerce Server 2007 Help, see the Microsoft Web site.
There are a number of ways to use the BizTalk adapters provided with Commerce Server, also known as the Commerce Server adapters. You can use the receive functionality of the Commerce Server adapters (receive adapters) to establish set time intervals upon which Commerce Server data will be exported into BizTalk Server. You can use the send functionality of the Commerce Server adapters (send adapters) to either retrieve Commerce Server data or to import data into Commerce Server, both driven by the flow of messages within BizTalk Server. And regardless of whether you are using the receive adapters or the send adapters, the ultimate purpose of using the adapters is the automated exchange of Commerce Server data with another application or system, through BizTalk Server. Often, the other application is a line-of-business (LOB) system with which you want to integrate Commerce Server.
This section provides more high-level information about using the Commerce Server adapters to exchange Commerce Server data with other applications such as LOB systems. It divides the discussion according to a logical boundary inside BizTalk Server. On one side of the boundary are the Commerce Server adapters and Commerce Server itself. The first two topics, about sending and receiving messages to and from Commerce Server, discuss what you, as an adapter developer, need to think about on one side of this boundary. The third topic, about conversing with other systems, discusses what you need to think about on the other side of the boundary, where you will probably be doing some BizTalk Server development and potentially some development within the other system itself.