My apologies for asking basic questions, but I just started with Biztalk
last week and am still a little lost.

I'm experimenting with using Biztalk to translate data from my database into
a flat file format used by a client. I've managed to create an XSD for the
flat file and can successfully validate and generate images of the file in
native form, as well as the XML breakdown for the data. No problem.

However, I'm having an issue actually creating an orchestration and
deploying this schema. I've created a very, very basic orchestration -- it
consists of a receive block and send block, with each one attached to a
single port, and basic receive/send pipelines which only contain a flat file
disassembler/assembler. In theory, my orchestration should take files dumped
in one directory (via a FILE receive port) and output them in the same form
in another directory.

I've deployed it successfully to my local Biztalk server, and I can toss
files (the same ones I've validated in VS.NET) into the receive directory
and watch them vanish, but they seem to get stuck in the message queue. The
HAT tool supplies the not-so-helpful explanation that "The Messaging Engine
encountered an error during the processing of one or more inbound messages."
I can't find a way to get more details on what, specifically, is causing the
problem.

Can anyone give me some more insight on how to go about debugging an
orchestration at this stage? Thanks!

-- Daniel

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Hello,

[...]

>Can anyone give me some more insight on how to go about debugging an
>orchestration at this stage? Thanks!

First, you have to determine if the issue occurs in the pipeline (before you
r orchestration sees the message or after it has sent the message)
or in your orchestration. My wild guess would be that the failure appears in
 the receive pipeline and your orchestration is not reached yet.

First, when things do not go well, you should look at the event viewer log f
or "application".
BizTalk server 2004 logs all its errors here. This will give you a starting 
point. If the error is about XLANG, then
the orchestration has an issue. If the error is about pipeline, message, ada
pters, then this is a messaging issue.

Second, use HAT. Start the tool, and select "Operations->Messages". Click "R
un Query" and you will see a list
of all messages actually suspended. You can right click on one and look at t
he properties. Among the properties,
you will see tghe reason why the message got suspended.

You can also debug orchestrations. Instead of looking at "Operations->messag
es" use "Operations->Services Instances".
Right click to observe properties and to fire the debugger.

We could help you further diagnose this issue if we knew what error message(
s) were in the event log so for further posts, do not
hesiate to post them here.

Thanks.
-Gilles.

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Gilles,

Thanks very much. I had no idea that the application log contained the more
detailed error messages. My problem seems to be with the flat file
disassembler -- the error given is:

There was a failure executing the receive pipeline:
"Daily_Credit_Alerts.EquifaxSend_Receive" Source: "Flat file disassembler"
Receive Location: " C:\DailyAlerts_Equifax\InstallCancelRequ
est\*.txt"
Reason: Unexpected data found while looking for:
'&'
The current definition being parsed is ServiceRequest. The stream offset
where the error occured is 37403.

This is consistent with the flat file schema I've given the disassembler --
it uses & as its delimiter for certain types of records. What's odd is that
I can parse the same flat file using Visual Studio's "validate instance"
command in "native" mode, and it all parses correctly. What are the
fundamental differences between the flat file disassembler and the Visual
Studio validator, and how can I debug the disassembly process?

-- Daniel

"Gilles [MSFT]" <Gilles@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:GMBxOzhXEHA.2900@cpmsftngxa06.phx.gbl...
> Hello,
>
> [...]
> 
>
> First, you have to determine if the issue occurs in the pipeline (before
your orchestration sees the message or after it has sent the message)
> or in your orchestration. My wild guess would be that the failure appears
in the receive pipeline and your orchestration is not reached yet.
>
> First, when things do not go well, you should look at the event viewer log
for "application".
> BizTalk server 2004 logs all its errors here. This will give you a
starting point. If the error is about XLANG, then
> the orchestration has an issue. If the error is about pipeline, message,
adapters, then this is a messaging issue.
>
> Second, use HAT. Start the tool, and select "Operations->Messages". Click
"Run Query" and you will see a list
> of all messages actually suspended. You can right click on one and look at
the properties. Among the properties,
> you will see tghe reason why the message got suspended.
>
> You can also debug orchestrations. Instead of looking at
"Operations->messages" use "Operations->Services Instances".
> Right click to observe properties and to fire the debugger.
>
> We could help you further diagnose this issue if we knew what error
message(s) were in the event log so for further posts, do not
> hesiate to post them here.
>
> Thanks.
> -Gilles.
>

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]