Biztalk Database Interview Preparation Guide

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☛ The error in BizTalk usually creates a suspended message. But routing error creates two messages. Why so? How we could utilize this feature?
☛ Send ports have an “Ordered delivery” option. How it works for a File adapter, if the File protocol does not have a notion of file order?
☛ Send ports have an “Ordered delivery” option but Receive ports do not have it. Why so?
☛ You set up an “Ordered delivery” option in a Send Port. What is special about a Service Instance of this Port?
☛ How to force an Orchestration do the ordered delivery? Is there a special “Ordered delivery” option in an Orchestration? If it is not, why?
☛ Send ports have the “Priority” options, but Receive ports and Receive Locations do not have them. Why so?
☛ How does the Priority feature of the Send Port work?
☛ Why the Priority option can be set up only for the Send Port?
☛ Send ports have the “Retry” options, but Receive ports and Receive Locations do not have them. Why so?
☛ How does the Retry feature of the Send Port work? In what scenarios this feature is helpful, in
☛ Send ports have a “Backup Transport” but Receive ports do not have it. Why so?
☛ Send ports have a “Filter” but Receive ports do not have it. Why so?
☛ Send ports have the “Maps” and “Transport”; Receive ports have “Maps” but “Transport” is associated with Receive Locations. Why so?
☛ What is the difference between “Send Port Group – Send Port” relation and “Receive Port – Receive Location” relation?
☛ Receive Locations have the Schedule parameters for date and time but Send Ports have the Schedule parameters only time. Why so?
☛ Can we create two Send Ports with the same URL? Can we create two Receive Locations with the same URL? Why so?
☛ Filter expression for the Send Port is defined at run-time, but Filter expression for the Orchestrations is defined only at design-time. Why so?
☛ We created a custom pipeline component. Do we have to place it into the “<BizTalkFolder>Pipeline Component” or install it to GAC or both?
☛ How does an Orchestration make sure the message was sent successfully by one-way Send port? How does it changed for a two-way Send port?
☛ What is it the “CodeList Database” property of the Schema? How to use it?
☛ What is the “Property Schema Base” property of the Property schema element? It has the values: MessageDataProperyBase, MessageContextPropertyBase, and PartContextPropertyBase. What is the difference between using MessageDataProperyBase and MessageContextPropertyBase?
☛ We bind an Orchestration with a Send Port. What does it do regards of the subscription?
☛ We bind an Orchestration with a Receive Port. What does it do regards of the subscription?
☛ How do Filters of the Send Ports and Send Port Groups work together? Say, a Send Port belongs to a Send Port Group. If this Send Port and this Send Port Group have the same Filter expression, does it create two subscriptions and, as a result, two messages are sent to the Send Port?
☛ Why do we need a special Property schema for Promoted properties? What is the purpose of this schema? Distinguished properties do not use this kind of schema. Why so?
☛ Properties of some BizTalk artifacts have a Tracking option. Right-click menu of some BizTalk artifacts have the “Tracking…” command. Why there is such a difference between artifacts? Why Maps do not have any Tracking options? Why Schemas have only Tracking property? Why Send Port Groups do not have any Tracking options? Why Receive Locations do not have any Tracking options? Why BizTalk Applications do not have any Tracking options?
☛ When a BizTalk Assembly is deployed, is it stored in the BizTalk database or is it just referenced in the BizTalk database?
☛ Why a BizTalk Assembly must be installed into GAC? Why deploying it to BizTalk database is not enough?
☛ Can you describe at least three scenarios where smart Orchestration Engine finds the errors in the messages patterns at design time (while build a BizTalk project)?
☛ A Host has an "Authentication Trusted" option. What does it mean? What implication it has to the message processing? How do we have to use it / don't use?
☛ Could we create an XLANGMessage in the C#/VB code? Please, provide code.
☛ We can use an XmlDocument class as a Message type for receiving the untyped Xml messages in Orchestration. What .NET classes do we have to use for receiving the untyped text or binary messages in Orchestration. Why so?
☛ Is the Publish-Subscribe BizTalk Engine API well defined? Where? If not, why so?
☛ Does the BizTalk use the strategy “First received, first processed” or “First received, last processed” of “First received, first processed, first sent” of something else? Why so?
☛ Describe scenarios, when this strategy works better, and scenarios, when this strategy works badly.
☛ Are Orchestration Instances processed in order? Why so? Describe scenarios.
☛ Is it possible to force the Hydration / Dehydration of the Orchestration instances, Messaging instances? How to do this? Why do this?
☛ In what scenarios will we use the Compensations in Orchestrations? Why so?
☛ The Atomic scopes in Orchestrations have a Retry feature. How does it work? Describe scenarios when it is used.
☛ What serializer is used inside the BizTalk, the XmlSerializer or the DataContractSerializer? What implication has it for the real life scenarios?
☛ What transform engine is the BizTalk using, an XslTransform or an XslCompiledTransform? What implication has it for the real life scenarios?
☛ The BizTalk Business Rule Engine uses a Rete engine. In what scenarios this Rete engine is the more efficient / less efficient?
☛ Let’s classify the applications as Front-end, Middle-level and Back-end. Where are the best places to use BizTalk? Please, provide scenarios. What are the most important features we have to take in account?
☛ What BizTalk features are the differentiators, when we compare the BizTalk Server with other alternatives? What are those alternatives?
☛ What is a Heartbeat in the BizTalk? Why is it implemented? Can we change the heartbeat interval? How does this interval influence the processes in the MessageBox?
☛ What is the difference, if any, between the ESB and the Broker conceptions?
☛ How to set up a custom name for a dynamic send port?
☛ What kind of the dynamic ports are existed? Are there dynamic send ports? Are there dynamic receive ports? Why is it so?

In this type of upgrade, you replace the previous version of SQL Server with a newer version on the same server, and the BizTalk Server databases do not move. The procedure described later in this topic guides you through the steps required to perform an in-place upgrade.

A flat file schema defines the structure of a class of instance messages that use a flat file format, either delimited or positional or some combination thereof. Because the native semantic capabilities of XSD do not accommodate all of the requirements for defining the structure of flat file instance messages—such as the various types of delimiters that might be used for different records and fields within the flat file—BizTalk Server uses the annotation capabilities of XSD to store this extra information within an XSD schema. BizTalk Server defines a rich set of specific annotation tags that can be used to store all of the required additional information.

It is a script which when run installs the BizTalk Schema Generator. It is used when generating schema from existing items. It's likely to get error first time or after updates "WFX to XSD Schema generation module is not installed". Then this script can be used to install the schema generator.

MessageBox_Message_ManageRefCountLog_BizTalkMsgBoxDb determines when a message is no longer referenced by any subscriber. When no subscriber found it starts MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb which removes the unused message.

In this type of upgrade, you simultaneously upgrade the version of SQL Server and move the databases to a new instance of SQL Server or to a new location entirely. You must manually move the databases and other objects (such as logons and jobs) to the new location. The procedure for a transfer upgrade is based on the procedure described in this topic, with the addition of the steps needed to move the databases to a new server or a new instance of SQL Server.

The database is used to store the data about the Message and other data required for processing it, along with the help of SQL Server Agent Jobs.

Yes. BAM Analysis, BAM Archive, BAMAlertsApplication, BAMAlertsNSMain, BAM Primary Import database and BAM Star Schema can be used to implement BAM solution.

MessageBox_Message_ManageRefCountLog_BizTalkMsgBoxDb is the job which runs continuously in spite of scheduled to run once per minute.

It can be but it should be avoided in the projects that uses BizTalk EDI engine as during run time there can be conflicts with this and expected results might not be seen.

Difference between XSD and DTD are listed below:
☛ o XSD are written in XML.
☛ o XSD support data types.
☛ o XSD support namespaces.
☛ o XSD is extensible to future additions.
☛ o XSD is richer and more powerful than DTDs.

The database is used to store the data about the Message and other data required for processing it, along with the help of SQL Server Agent Jobs.

Single Sign-On database (SSODb) securely stores the configuration information for receive locations, other known secret information is stored in the BizTalkMgmtDb.

Monitor BizTalk Server, this job scans the BizTalkMgmtDb, BizTalkMsgBoxDb and BizTalkDTADb database for any known issues, including orphaned instances.

MessageBox_Message_ManageRefCountLog_BizTalkMsgBoxDb is the job which runs continuously in spite of scheduled to run once per minute.

An <Any> element in a schema designates a specific location in the schema where new elements or attributes can be added. When BizTalk uses the schema to process a message containing unknown elements or attributes in the designated location, the schema will still consider the message valid.

Messaging objects viz. Receive Ports, Receive Locations, Send ports, etc. are stored in the Management Database.

Right click the project in Solution Explorer and select Add Generated Items --> Generate Schemas.

Messaging objects viz. Receive Ports, Receive Locations, Send ports, etc. are stored in the Management Database.

In addition to the default 4 databases only one database, i.e. Rule Engine Database.

Yes. An entry is added in subscription table.

When the new host is created it results in a new entry in the Host table in the Management database and also a new Host queue in the MessageBox.

Correlation types define a set of properties on which you will be correlating messages. These can be any properties which were previously defined in a property schema (see question 2) and deployed with some BizTalk Project including "system" properties deployed with the GlobalPropertySchemas which is installed as part of the base BizTalk install. A correlation set defines a set of properties and values for these properties that a message must contain to be processed by a particular orchestration.

It's a node within a BizTalk Server schema that represents the outermost XML element in the business document specified by the schema.

☛ MessageBox_Message_ManageRefCountLog_BizTalkMsgBoxDb determines when a message is no longer referenced by any subscriber.
☛ When no subscriber found it starts MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb which removes the unused message.