Article Source: https://geekswithblogs.net/charliemott
This article describes an approach to the management of cross reference data for BizTalk. Some articles about the BizTalk Cross Referencing features can be found here:
- http://home.comcast.net/~sdwoodgate/xrefseed.zip
- https://geekswithblogs.net/michaelstephenson/archive/2006/12/24/101995.aspx
- https://geekswithblogs.net/charliemott/archive/2009/04/20/value-vs.id-cross-referencing-in-biztalk.aspx
Options
Current options to managing this data include:
- Maintaining xml files in the format that can be used by the out-of-the-box BTSXRefImport.exe utility.
- Use of user interfaces that have been developed to manage this data:
However, there are the following issues with the above options:
- The 'BizTalk Cross Referencing Tool' requires a separate database to manage. The 'XRef XML Creation' tool has no means of persisting the data.
- The 'BizTalk Cross Referencing tool' generates integers in the common id field. I prefer to use a string (e.g. acme.petshop.country.uk). This is more readable. (see naming conventions below).
- Both UI tools continue to use BTSXRefImport.exe. This utility replaces all xref data. This can be a problem in continuous integration environments that support multiple target BizTalk groups (even different clients). If you upload the data for one client/group/application it would destroy the data for every other application in that group. Yet in TFS, where builds run concurrently, this could break unit tests.
Alternative Approach
In response to these issues, I instead use simple SQL scripts to directly populate the BizTalkMgmtDb xref tables combined with a data namepacing strategy to isolate client\application data.
Naming Conventions
All data keys use namespace prefixing. The pattern will be .<biztalk group and\or applicatoin>.. The data must follow this pattern to isolate it from other company\group cross-reference data. The naming convention I use is lower casing for all items.
The table below shows some sample data. (Note: this data uses the 'ID' cross-reference tables. The same principles apply for the 'value' cross-referencing tables).
| Table.Field | Description | Sample Data |
|---|---|---|
| xref_AppType.appType | Application Types | acme.petshop.erp |
| acme.petshop.portal | ||
| acme.petshop.assetmanagement | ||
| acme.petshop.ordermanagement | ||
| xref_AppInstance.appInstance | Application Instances | |
| (each will have a corresponding application type). | acme.petshop.dynamics.ax | |
| acme.petshop.dynamics.crm | ||
| acme.petshop.sharepoint | ||
| acme.petshop.maximo | ||
| acme.petshop.oms | ||
| xref_IDXRef.idXRef | Holds the cross reference data types. | acme.petshop.vatcode |
| acme.petshop.country | ||
| xref_IDXRefData.CommonID | Holds each cross reference type value used by the canonical schemas. | acme.petshop.vatcode.exmpt |
| acme.petshop.vatcode.std | ||
| acme.petshop.country.usa | ||
| acme.petshop.country.uk | ||
| xref_IDXRefData.AppID | This holds the value for each application instance and each xref type. | UK |
| GB | ||
| 44 |
Scripts
The data to be stored in the BizTalkMgmtDb xref tables will be managed by SQL scripts stored in a database project in the visual studio solution.
| File(s) | Description |
|---|---|
| Build.cmd | A sqlcmd script to deploy data by running the SQL scripts below. (This can be run as part of the MSBuild process). |
| acme.petshop.purgexref.sql | SQL script to clear acme.petshop.* data from the xref tables. As such, this will not impact data for any other client/group. |
| acme.petshop.applicationInstances.sql | SQL script to insert application type and application instance data. |
| acme.petshop.vatcode.sql | |
| acme.petshop.country.sql | |
| etc... | There will be a separate SQL script to insert each cross-reference data type and application specific values for these types. |