Thomas a fellow MVP has written a great write up on his thoughts and views on WF 4.0 (in it’s current form).

Found in the .NET 4.0 Framework Beta – check it out.

http://winterdom.com/2009/05/comments-on-the-wf-40-designer

Cheers,

Mick

As you sink your teeth into the depths of BizTalk 2006 R2/2009 and realise the potential of integrating with the WCF Custom Adapter, a new world opens up.

Then…

Then at one point down the track you’ll want to tweak or customise what is being sent/received. For e.g. changing the shape of the XML transferred over a HTTP transports – maybe compression, maybe minus the explicit XML notation (i.e. takes 5KB to send over 30 chars)

So you’ll then move onto something called a WCF Custom Behaviour.

Two great whitepapers are

Part 1- http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc952299.aspx
Part 2- http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd379134.aspx

You want to know the ins and outs of WCF at a glance – then the mini-book is a winner.
(Just let this puppy fall out of your back pocket in the office and watch the guys instantly want to Sync up their Complete Series of Star Trek with you…)

Seriously – great guide, easy to flick through and welcome to another 8 million lines of code you thought you could live without :)

Thanks to the efforts of Cliff Simpkins and his team for their dedication on this.

6 Chapters + Code….are you man enough?

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Project/Download/FileDownload.aspx?ProjectName=netfxsamples&DownloadId=4962

As promised, the chaos of TechEd has subsided and if there's that thing of normality approaching....we'll I must be close to it.

My Thursday after lunch session went great with a whole series of demos about different aspects of hosting and running workflows (WCF based, .NET 3.5, Tracking, FilePersistence, Obtaining Metadata etc):

I was just alerted to this whitepaper that has a very good discussion about using WF versus when to use BizTalk.

For those of you that are previous readers of my blog I'm an avid fan of WF and BTS working together to solve solutions rather than a common message voiced by at times MS - "you *must* choose one or the other". I did a webcast on this years ago.

Kent Brown the author does a very good job - well done!!!

BizTalk Server 2006 or WF? Choosing the Right Workflow Tool for Your Project

Hey folks, I've been flat chat lately burning the candle at both ends getting ready for my sessions at TechEd/Deep Dives.

In a *spare* moment - I am asked to do a Channel9 GeekSpeak session - talking about Workflow and BizTalk Integration.
(I've had my xbox360 confiscated for 1 month to help me get through this month - that's a story for another time :)

This session is on tomorrow morning - so for those of you feeding babies, can't sleep etc. I'd love to have you along for moral support as this will be my very first session in Geek Speak.

So if you're up for a 5am - 6am start Thursday morning I'll see you there. Put something Aussie in your nick name!

Update: The Results have come in.......well this was done at 4am my time in the morning and all I can say is thanks to the folks that attended for being understanding :)

Customer satisfaction scores are based on a scale from 0 to 9 points.  
The average score for a webcast is 7.8.

Usefulness of Information: 8.0
Speaker Presentation Skills: 7.8
Effectiveness of Demonstration: 8.0
Overall Presentation Rating: 7.8

Link to see the webcast over and over again
 Looks like I got around the average at 4am in the morning.....I'm amazed I even made sense!!!:)

Finally it's here - there was some talk internally within MS about an adapter being built to communicate to WF Runtime, thus allowing hosting of WF workflows within BizTalk.

At the moment we're at cross roads with BizTalk 2006, as the Orchestration/Business Process designers and technologies is built on a language called XLANG which is compiled into C# and executed.

On the other side, we have WF workflows, XAML, XML, .NET based, extensible and looking good.....but it needs to find a home. It's homeless but always keen to meet up with a host. The question of hosting WF Workflows is not taken lightly as scalability, availability, durability etc all come into the equation (the 'hello world' WF console application just doesnt cut it :) )

So let's get the best of both worlds - I previously did a MSDN webcast on this around the time when the message from MS was "for small stuff - use WF. For bigger things use BTS" - but why cant the 2 worlds live together?

Now - they can!!!!

Microsoft WF Team have released 'BTS Extension for WF' where there is 'no BizTalk code required' (hmmm....maybe I should stop my mission of finding BizTalk people and look at WF people).

Go and register on the connect site/fill in a quick survey and get downloading!!!!

Grab the BTS Extensions for WF here

Happy playing........it's wabbit season...no duck season....no wabbit season....

Hi all I could start telling you about how great this bootcamp is and how you're going to get so much out of it, but I wont.
I could fluff on about different technologies you'll learn and integrate with such as WinWF and WCF as well as CBR within BizTalk 2006 R2. Not stuff from text books but real world experience - we know what works and doesnt.

I could talk about the 'bigger' question - "What makes a good/great design?", "Is that a 'good' solution?"...or does it just limp by?
I dont even want to talk about how when you come out you'll know why and where you'll be using WinWF and what BizTalk does for you. You'll also be very excited about the huge range of different messaging options available to you implementing WCF Services....but hang on! Doesnt BizTalk 2006 R2 expose WCF Services? Why should we host our WCF Service in BizTalk versus hand coding? When to hand code?

You'll also get a solid understanding of the BizTalk environment and we'll chat about pipelines, when a promoted property is not a promoted property. How Biztalk processes messages and performance, also let's have a crack at developing custom functoids, pipeline components and even adapters.

We're Business Process and Integration experts let's kick some tyres together.
Through these bootcamps, we're going to share that knowledge with you .....the big question is: Are you ready for it?

Overview:
This 4-day workshop provides developers with the tools to upgrade their 2002/4 skills and perform advanced orchestrations and training partner management.
You will learn to use BAS and SSO, practice developing, managing and customizing adapters and creating custom pipeline components, all within BizTalk rules.
This workshop also explores the new features of BizTalk 2006 R2 including developing & consuming WCF Services (Windows Communication foundation) for BizTalk.

Target Audience:
Developers and IT professionals with previous experience working with BizTalk 2002/2004 .Net development. (Level 300/400)

Prerequisites:
Before attending this workshop, students should have some experience with previous versions of BizTalk and .Net development skills.

Skills Gained:

This four day workshop will focus on:
1. Upgrading your skills from 2002/2004 to BizTalk Server 2006 R2. Connected Systems Roadmap to BizTalk 2006 R2.
2. Perform advanced orchestrations.
3. Gain an understanding of Workflow with in-depth hands-on scenario labs. Assess the difference between Windows Workflow and BizTalk orchestration engine.
4. Take advantage of Trading Partner Management using BAS.
5. Utilise SSO – store sensitive configuration data securely.
6. Develop and manage adapters (e.g. WCF adapters)
7. Create custom pipeline components.
8. Create custom adapters. (e.g. Split messages)
9. Create and work with Rules for the BizTalk Rules Engine.

Key Topics:

Module 1: Create and perform advanced orchestrations
This module covers:-
• Creating Correlated Orchestrations (e.g singletons, serial/parallel convoys)
• Creating and utilising Message Context Based Promoted Properties
• Creating Messages based on advanced classes/types.
• Creating Direct Bound Orchestrations and exploring the relationship with the MessageBox Database.
• Creating Generic Content Based Routed Orchestrations
• Utilising Dynamic Ports and Role Link Shapes – the easy way.

Module 2: Creating Rules, Trading Partners and SSO
This module shows you how to create rules based on:
• Schemas, static classes and databases.
• Rules Engine comprehensively explained, including the difference to Windows Workflow Rules Engine.
• Calling Rules from Orchestrations and Custom Applications
• Registry keys that control Rule/Rules Engine Performance
Explore the relationship with Trading Partner Management and BizTalk Server 2006 R2. Including:
• Setting up and creating Partners.
• Creating custom Partner Parameters used in Processes
• Utilising Partners Inbox/Outbox from within BizTalk 2006
• Further Trading Partner integration – RoleLinks explained.
Taking advantage of SSO within solutions.
• SSO under the covers.
• Using SSO and the SSO APIs to store/retrieve secure configuration information.

Module 3: Exploring and Creating Adapters - Advanced
This module will take you through exploring and creating adapters out of the box as well as how to create your own. A lap around WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) and customising WCF adapters.
Working with the provided Adapters (e.g. MSMQ, Sharepoint, SQL & SOAP Port)
Working with some community Adapters
• Integrating with SQL Server 2005 Service Broker

Module 4: Creating custom pipeline components
This module will examine pipelines and take you through creating your own custom pipeline components.

Module 5: Windows Workflow Foundation
This module will introduce Windows Workflow and take you through the architectural concepts right through to building a workflow. Includes extending workflows with custom activities, why custom activities are important, when to write and how to build. In-depth hands-on scenario labs in this module.

Module 6: Investigating BAM and BAM APIs
This module examines Business Acitivity Monitor (BAM). We look at BAM enabling your BizTalk Solutions including Related Activities. We cover setting up BAM Observation Models and working with the BAM APIs to “BAM Enable” your non-BizTalk Applications (e.g. WebServices)

Module 7: Optimising Performance & Deployment
We look at examining your performance and creating the optimum environment.
• Determining the maximum throughput of your BizTalk Solution
• Configuring your BizTalk environment for maximum performance
• Troubleshooting – where to start, examining & resolving issues.
• Creating deployment scripts to fully deploy your BizTalk Solutions

A collegue of mine pointed me in the direction of this whitepaper
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb220799.... that talks about

Building Interoperable Insurance Systems with .NET 3.0 Technologies
(me being onsite at the moment at a financial services client - this comes in super handy!)

Talks and walks through the design and developing tooling and problems faced during implementation.

A great article to get a feel for some of the issues at hand.(look past the SQLServer 2006 mentioned on page 2 :)

Enjoy.

While struggling to get all the links together and the correct version of all the accessories to .NET 3.0 RC1 (as this is what BTS requires).

I wanted to develop Workflow based solutions as well and noticed my friend Paul Andrew has read my mind in his post HERE

Here's a snip:

• Install the .NET Framework 3.0 RC for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. This is not required for Windows Vista since it already has the .NET Framework 3.0 but you do need to ensure you are using the RC of Windows Vista to get the right build of .NET Framework 3.0.
• Install the Windows Vista RC SDK from which you get help documentation and SDK samples. This install isn't required for .NET Framework 3.0 development as you can view the SDK documentation and access the SDK samples online.
• Install the Visual Studio "Orcas" CTP which includes tools for WPF and WCF. Of course you must already have Visual Studio 2005 installed as this CTP adds to it.
• Install the Visual Studio 2005 extensions for Windows Workflow Foundation. This is the matching part to "Orcas" but for WF. If you aren't planning to use WF then you don't need this, and if you aren't planning to use WPF or WCF you don't need "Orcas".
• Install the Expression Interactive Designer matching RC build. This is for creating WPF user interfaces to be used with the "Orcas" tools in Visual Studio 2005.
• Install the Hands on Labs for Windows Workflow Foundation.

I have a Windows Vista RC machine and a Windows XP machine which I've installed these on. It's also the same install on Windows Server 2003 if you use that as your development environment.

WF designers can be re-hosted in many places, but here's a couple that are browser based

Jon Flanders wrote one in Atlas, (AJax for .NET ) or what ever name it's called this week which uses Atlas and is pretty cool out of the browser

Ghenadie from MS has been very busy and created a Javascript based Workflow Designer  - believe that!
Ghenadie is wanting to create a central repository of Activities etc. for all to use through this.

These appear to be work in progress - but hats off for their efforts.

Jon's -

NETFXLIVE -

Hi folks - as you all know it's about Connected Systems - not neccessarily about one technology on it's own.

I'm a firm believer that we're always trying to solve a customer's problem/solution which will involve more than just BizTalk.

In our 'BizTalk' space now (with R2 TAP on the way), we have technologies such as:

1. BizTalk 2006
2. RFID
3. WCF
4. WinWF
5. SSB
6. SSIS
7. All the LOB adapters from BizTalk 2006
8. MOSS 2007
9. MSMQ/MQSeries etc.

So as an 'integration specialist' we need to know not only how these work and the benefits of each for certain environments, but also how to create an effective solution in these technologies. (not something like - "I believe you can do that in .....I just need to watch some webcasts on it first" :)

The Sydney BizTalk User Group has launched a Connected Systems Mailing list.

How to JOIN:
1. send an email to stserv@list.sydbiz.org with
SUBSCRIBE cs@list.sydbiz.org  
in the BODY of the message (you can put anything for the SUBJECT, or leave it blank)

So come and join my one other friend to kick this off. :)

How to UNJOIN:
1. send an email to stserv@list.sydbiz.org with
UNSUBSCRIBE cs@list.sydbiz.org