BizTalk Server Orchestration - Understanding HTTP is driving me nutty!

Author

Understanding HTTP is driving me nutty!

Brian Taylor

2004-05-21, 7:57 am

I am finding it really hard understand the HTTP solicit/response concept.
Does it simple pass XML to a URL and return the response as a message? I
have read all the documentation on HTTP and run the sample but I admit I
still don't really understand what is going on - is there any simple
explanations anywhere?

Anyway all I am trying to achieve is open a URL and read the results (in
this case a flat file) into a pipeline to convert it to XML.
Are there any simple examples where the HTTP solicit/response is used to
read HTML or text (or am I completely "up the wrong tree" here)?

bt

larry franks

2004-05-21, 5:55 pm

HTTP solicit/response is going to send a message to the remote URL and wait
for a response. In most cases this would be used to post a message to a
.asp page that then responds with a new page that is returned as the
inbound response message. Usually the returned page is a status page
(ok/fail/etc) or a response document somehow calcuated based on the
original document.
So for your scenario to work you'd need to post something to a page, and
then that page returns the flatfile to you (as the body of the html page
usually.)

It sounds like you want an http transport that you want an http adapter
that you give a url and it just fetches the document at the other end.
There isn't anything in the product that does this over HTTP for a static
document. The big problem you'd run into is that over regular HTTP there's
no way to delete the file, you'd end up polling the same file over and over
and over. If you used webdav it would work since you have the option to do
deletes and can delete the data after it's read. But again we have no
adapter that does something like this. Closest I can think of would be the
FTP adapter.

Larry Franks

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties,and confers no rights.
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--------------------
| From: "Brian Taylor" <taylorb@newsgroups.nospam>
| Subject: Understanding HTTP is driving me nutty!
| Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 21:27:18 +1000
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| I am finding it really hard understand the HTTP solicit/response concept.
| Does it simple pass XML to a URL and return the response as a message? I
| have read all the documentation on HTTP and run the sample but I admit I
| still don't really understand what is going on - is there any simple
| explanations anywhere?
|
| Anyway all I am trying to achieve is open a URL and read the results (in
| this case a flat file) into a pipeline to convert it to XML.
| Are there any simple examples where the HTTP solicit/response is used to
| read HTML or text (or am I completely "up the wrong tree" here)?
|
| bt
|
|
|

Brian Taylor

2004-05-23, 11:33 pm

Larry,

Thanks for your feedback - very useful.
For the applications I am trying to use BizTalk, I just need to browse to a
URL and the page is updated automatically all the time with the latest
information by a remote server. I just want to monitor it regularly and
process the information by running it through a flat file disassembler.

After looking again at the HTTP adapter and reading the documentation I see
that it only does a HTTP Post in the solicit response mechanism. This is no
good as I understand that I need a HTTP Get. If I try to use the HTTP
Adapter I get the following response below. Therefore as you have pointed
out this adapter will not work for what I am trying to achieve.
IIS: 2004-05-24 01:31:09 127.0.0.1 POST /newtemp/default.htm - 80 -
127.0.0.1 Microsoft+BizTalk+Server+2004+3.0.1.0 405 0 1
Event: The "HTTP" adapter is suspending an outbound message going to
destination URL:"http://localhost/newtemp/default.htm". Details:"The remote
server returned an error: (405) Method Not Allowed.".

If you have any further thoughts on this query I would certainly love to
hear them.

Brian

""larry franks"" <larryfr@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CkJsFn2PEHA.752@cpmsftngxa10.phx.gbl...
> HTTP solicit/response is going to send a message to the remote URL and
wait
> for a response. In most cases this would be used to post a message to a
> asp page that then responds with a new page that is returned as the
> inbound response message. Usually the returned page is a status page
> (ok/fail/etc) or a response document somehow calcuated based on the
> original document.
> So for your scenario to work you'd need to post something to a page, and
> then that page returns the flatfile to you (as the body of the html page
> usually.)
>
> It sounds like you want an http transport that you want an http adapter
> that you give a url and it just fetches the document at the other end.
> There isn't anything in the product that does this over HTTP for a static
> document. The big problem you'd run into is that over regular HTTP
there's
> no way to delete the file, you'd end up polling the same file over and
over
> and over. If you used webdav it would work since you have the option to
do
> deletes and can delete the data after it's read. But again we have no
> adapter that does something like this. Closest I can think of would be
the
> FTP adapter.
>
> Larry Franks
>
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties,and confers no rights.
> Subscribe at
>
http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...msdn/nospam.asp
> &SD=msdn
> --------------------
> | From: "Brian Taylor" <taylorb@newsgroups.nospam>
> | Subject: Understanding HTTP is driving me nutty!
> | Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 21:27:18 +1000
> | Lines: 14
> | X-Priority: 3
> | X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
> | X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106
> | X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106
> | Message-ID: <Og6MgcyPEHA.2236@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl>
> | Newsgroups: microsoft.public.biztalk.orchestration
> | NNTP-Posting-Host: 202.63.40.198
> | Path:
>
cpmsftngxa10.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTFEED02.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP0
> 8.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl
> | Xref: cpmsftngxa10.phx.gbl microsoft.public.biztalk.orchestration:6205
> | X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.biztalk.orchestration
> |
> | I am finding it really hard understand the HTTP solicit/response
concept.
> | Does it simple pass XML to a URL and return the response as a message? I
> | have read all the documentation on HTTP and run the sample but I admit I
> | still don't really understand what is going on - is there any simple
> | explanations anywhere?
> |
> | Anyway all I am trying to achieve is open a URL and read the results (in
> | this case a flat file) into a pipeline to convert it to XML.
> | Are there any simple examples where the HTTP solicit/response is used to
> | read HTML or text (or am I completely "up the wrong tree" here)?
> |
> | bt
> |
> |
> |
>

larry franks

2004-05-24, 4:37 pm