André Achtermeier

BizTalk 2009 Beta download

2008-12-09T20:07:00.000+01:00

BTS 2009 Beta is ready for public download: https://connect.microsoft.com/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?SiteID=218&DownloadID=15397

Do not generate empty node

2008-10-31T10:54:00.000+01:00

problem:

the source nodes are always created, even though the node has no value.

the destination node has not to be created for these empty nodes.

solution:

check for logical string existence and use value map (flattening) like these screenshot.

Failed to load source schema

2008-10-30T12:03:00.000+01:00

in some cases when i tried to open a biztalk map the error "Failed to load source schema" occured. I installed the hotfix described in KB 926344 and everything works fine again...

[Windows Server 2008, VS.NET 2005 and BTS 2006 R2]

CMIS - Microsoft and partners for new CMS standard

2008-10-02T18:31:00.001+02:00

About 4 weeks ago microsoft released Content Management Interoperability Services.

This standard (submitted to OASIS) could (is) a new highlight in MOSS connectivty to other CMS/DMS.

The realy interesting thing on this is, that SAP, IBM and of course MS worked together on this project (and some smaller companies, too). I am so euphoric about that... :-)

You can download the spec (draft) here .

BizTalk 2006 FTP Adapter and firewall settings

2008-09-11T13:58:00.000+02:00

My system has to send to an external FTP server behind a firewall.
I decided to use the standard FTP adapter. There you can fill in the settings for the firewall authorization. My firewall is nor SOCKS 4 or SOCKS 5 so i choose the type NONE.

After enabling the port i saw that the credentials of the firewall settings were not used at the firewall. The credentials and servernam for the external FTP server were used to authenticate at the firewall... and of course.... unsuccessfully... *gr*

BUT when i use a tool like the Total Commander... it works... so it should be the FTP adapter... the component that did not work correctly (with our type of firewall)...

I had no more time because my customer wants to go live with his trading partner so i have three choices... First: A MS support call... too long... Second: Develop a custom FTP adapter to fire custom commands.... OR... and that was the fastest method, that is working for me (temporary)...

1. Let the firewall settings empty...
2. Fill the firewall connection data instead of the FTP server data (Server, Username, etc.)
3. Fill in the name of the file to put to the external server.
3. In the line BEFORE PUT fill: USER youraccount@externalftpserver;PASS yourpassword;cwd yourdirectory;PASV

That works for me... ;-)

BizTalk 2009 Roadmap

2008-09-09T12:26:00.000+02:00

Here is the microsoft roadmap for BizTalk 2009... It's so exciting... I think i could use the WebSphere Adapter in further projects... :-) CLICK

Visit NYC

2008-08-15T16:24:00.000+02:00

Hi (again),

from 27th - 30th November 2008 i visit New York. If you want to talk with me about all the MS MOSS or BizTalk Stuff... just let me know... i will see if we can organize a meeting... :-)

Some more MOSS adventures

2008-08-15T16:05:00.001+02:00

hi,

long time ago after my last blogging... i had too much to fight with/against my loveley MOSS.. :-)
Here are some of my experiences in the last weeks/months:

1. Developing online market place for an intranet

I developed an online market place (release 1) where employees of a global company can buy or sell items.

I developed this cool tool as single webpart for sharepoint 2007. There is a filter, you cann add images to your announcement, you can edit your profile and of course your items...

The solution is a standalone solution, so the user of this market place are stored in another databse then the "normal" sharepoint users.

Cool design feature... This market place is also available (with the same code) for ASP.NET applications.

I use asp.net control loading and session state in this webpart. If you are interested in some screenshots or code... come back later... i will populate some features with screenshots and code in a few days... (without guarantee) :-)

Did you ever need to use the asp.net event handling in MOSS? No? You are are a lucky guy (or girl)... *g

2. Develop custom content webpart

I developed a custom webpart which uses the MOSS HTML editor and some custom properties. Now my customer is able to save different content in his own database and can decide which content he will show the users. Very nice...

so... what is next in my project plan... let's have a look:

... there will be some projects to use the BDC of MOSS and SAP or ACCESS... (yes... this little MS db office tool... and no... it's not dead... :-))
... some cool BizTalk R2 mappings and orchs to generate flatfiles and connect to SAP HR...
... and of course a lot of documentation... puhhh... i really will try to blog...

MOSS 2007: France without KPI

2008-07-03T17:44:00.002+02:00

In a multi language moss project i was unable to add the kpi webpart of moss.

After doing some "google"ing I found the solution here:

http://kbalertz.com/949606/Error-message-French-version-SharePoint-Server-French-version-Windows-SharePoint-Services-selected.aspx

MOSS and Business Score Card Manager 2005

2008-06-11T07:34:00.000+02:00

It is possible to use the Microsoft Office Business Score Card Manager with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007... but you need the compatible version of BSCM 2005 and it works only on 32-Bit systems..

PDC Registration is online!

2008-05-31T09:08:00.000+02:00

BizTalk FTP Adapter raises mystic error

2008-05-26T14:56:00.000+02:00

"A failure occurred when parsing the remote folder listing"... just switch to passive mode.... :-)

HowTo use dynamic SAP Send Port with SAP Adapter 2.0

2008-05-26T08:00:00.001+02:00

as described in the linked ms article above you can set the SAP URI dynamically. But the most problem you have is to install the SAP Adpter 2.0 on a Windows Vista Client... SAP Connector... VS.NET 2003... and all these stupid stuff....

Main problem is to set the username and password on runtime. You have to address the SAP Adapter properties in the header of the message send to the SAP system. You need to reference th Microsoft.BizTalk.SAPAdapterProperties.dll into your VS.NET Solution and you are now able to set the user credientials at runtime.

Uninitializes dynamic send port :-)

2008-05-21T09:55:00.000+02:00

ok ok...

some kind of stupid stuff...
i was searching to resolve the error while compiling an orchestration... this error is normally thrown when you have no address registered for a dynamic send port...
BUT i had set this property... äääääähhhmmm... but not in the correct order...

this is the BAD expression in the shape:

Port_DynamicSAP(Microsoft.XLANGs.BaseTypes.TransportType) = "SAP";
Port_DynamicSAP(Microsoft.XLANGs.BaseTypes.Address) = SOMESTRING;

and this is the GOOD expression in the shape:

Port_DynamicSAP(Microsoft.XLANGs.BaseTypes.Address) = SOMESTRING;
Port_DynamicSAP(Microsoft.XLANGs.BaseTypes.TransportType) = "SAP";

*g*... errare humanum est....

MOSS Profile Import works only with one DC

2008-05-13T19:57:00.000+02:00

If you want to import profiles in MOSS, you have to use only one domain controller for a LDAP query. this is by design... i have this situation:

three import sources and two domain controllers in "cluster mode". the first two import sources will work, but the third fails....

there is a workaround for this: just do an OR and use only two LDAP sources... or (of course) do an OR and use only ONE LDAP query... i will write some more lines about this tomorrow...

E-AI

2008-05-09T11:44:00.000+02:00

in honor of my/our job.... all our cars have now the licence number schema E-AI XXX :-)

Starting book project "SAP Integration"

2008-05-08T17:59:00.001+02:00

Today is kickoff for my new book project about "Consulting in integration projects".

I have 2 co-authors (both cutomers with integration skills) and will write about our experiences in this kinds of projects.

The book will release at the end of 2008. I will post a lot of experiences about this stuff while i'm writing the book... :-)

HTTP Error 411 ---- BizTalk HTTP Send Adapter

2008-05-02T13:31:00.000+02:00

Some servers will throw an HTTP Error 411, when you send an message via BizTalk HTTP Send Adapter.... then there is only one way to go.... disable the chunked encoding....

BizTalk Server 2006 R3 announced

2008-04-23T08:13:00.000+02:00

BTS R3 is in production... see Steve Martin`s Blog...

WarmUp the MOSS

2008-04-18T12:04:00.001+02:00

if you have some performance problems with your MOSS 2007 because of the page load is very slow... just try the WarmUp scripts from here.

The script call the configured MOSS site(s) and fill the cache... no longer waiting... works fine for me...

BUT... the scripts have to run under an account that has permissions to watch the configured site...

Ladies and gentlemen.... please start your engine....

SQL Server advice for migration projects in MOSS 2007

2008-04-09T19:42:00.000+02:00

ok... if you do some work to migrate content from sharepoint 2003 to MOSS 2007 you will inform the users about that.

all users have to stop working with the old system that you will be able to migrate ALL content.... maybe... well... some users will ignore your mails, phone calls, etc...

my advise when you use the database migration method....

SET THE CONTENT DATABASE OF THE SPS 2003 TO READ ONLY!!! :-) *aaarrrggggh*

Adding SAP XI/PI to portfolio

2008-03-31T10:51:00.000+02:00

because everyone has to look at other software giants, other languages and systems i learn the SAP PI (XI) system and configuration features for my own knowledge.

if you are interested how SAP's solution for EAI/SOA and BPM looks like... here is a good demo video.

I played with SAP XI/PI for some testing scenarios... but i do not like the complicated configuration features and the terrible UI.... the mapping feature and UI of biztalk is unbeaten... :-)

Where are all the BizTalk shapes?

2008-03-25T12:31:00.000+01:00

...in Microsoft.BizTalk.ObjectModel.dll...

Creating Simple BAM

2008-03-25T11:01:00.000+01:00

for legal reasons i had time for the last 2 month to develop my own BAM tool to simple create a tracking monitor...
legal reasons? i will explain to you in may... :-)

simple to install... simple to use... not a large solution with wss and all the other stuff from biztalk 2006 r2.... *g

i developed a custom biztalk activity to write tracking information in my own tracking db... now i setup a small web site fitted with customer needs... small.... simple and a fast overview...
i will write some snippets and show some screenshots soon.... stay tuned... :-)

Now using NHibernate

2008-03-18T11:40:00.000+01:00

some time ago and for some reasons i used stored procedures and the ADO.NET to communicate with the database. this is very fast and performant but in some cases like filling SAP properties too much coding work because of the multiplicity of properties. for this case i use NHibernate now and it works fine and simple. Give it a try...

Dynamic SAP Send Port in BizTalk

2008-03-18T09:13:00.000+01:00

in a customer scenario i have to use a dynamic SAP user for creating a purchase order. the purchase order will be created with calling a BAPI in SAP.

the customer logs on into a client app to create the PO. his username and password will be embedded in a xml envelope and used to configure a dynamic SAP port as described HERE.

1. create an expression shape to set the sap address.
2. create a sap message with the user properties.

BizTalk Labs and Oslo Kudelwhowau

2008-03-17T16:16:00.000+01:00

ok.... that`s not new... first try out the labs... BUT "Keep in mind that the technologies available at BizTalk Labs are experimental."

after i read the statements for the project code name "oslo" on microsoft sides i was verified in my learnings of the model driven architecture development process. OMG

MDA will be more important in the future... and it`s not a new software approach... :-)

IE 8 Beta

2008-03-17T16:02:00.000+01:00

internet explorer 8 Beta is ready to download HERE

BizTalk: HowTo check if destination element is already created

2008-03-11T14:31:00.001+01:00

standard situation in biztalk transformation maps:

in a looping functoid you want to check if a specific element is already created.
if this element is created you want not to create another element of these type...

puuuhhh? ok... a sample shows you what i mean:
the generated destination output (after mapping test) looks like this:

[destination node] ABCDEFGHI111 [/destination node]
[destination node] ABCDEFGHI111 [/destination node]

no matter what the source looks like... we do not want to create this part twice...
there is no matching functoid for this situation. you have multiple possibilities to resolve this problem...
BUT one of the fastest way is that (ok... it looks dirty... but will work):

insert a scripting functoid with no input and no output connector,
choose inline c# and declare a boolean... public bool isDestinationCreated = false; (or whatever)
now you can handle this bool in a scripting functoid inside the loop.... look at the screenshot....

MOSS 2007 Snippets... Where are you?

2008-03-11T08:29:00.000+01:00

i wonder why i can't use the SharePoint Server Worklfow Snippets in my VS.NET 2005 environment. if this happend you have to do the following steps:

1. Tools -> Code Snippet Manager
2. Change language to XML
3. Add -> "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Xml\1033\Snippets\SharePoint Server Workflow"

Now the snippets can be used again to insert feature.xml and workflow.xml tags...

happy MOSS ing... :-)

How to receive SAP IDoc with BizTalk Receive Port

2008-02-29T13:58:00.001+01:00

in a case where a SAP system has a configured HTTP send port with configured listeners and a trusted program... you have not to use the SAP adapter... this is a case for the WCF-Custom One-Way-Receive-Port as described in msdn :

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc185560.aspx

important is the SAP system connection string. here you can set all properties as they were set in the SAP system. and you have to bind the properties of the IDoc under the tab "Binding".

if you have successful completed this steps you are now able to receive IDoc's initially sended from the SAP to your BizTalk system.

My first J# project

2008-02-27T11:09:00.000+01:00

I decided to use J# first time in a project for compatibility reasons with a JAVA app. I wonder how simple a developer can switch his brain from C# to J# to C# to J# to C#...

Next i will test my experiences with using JAVA.... Is it really the same? I will see... but this will be a private project and no one will pay for this... so it will take some moments... but i will report my experiences here :-)

Interactive BTS R2 poster

2008-02-21T08:38:00.000+01:00

Nice overview of BizTalk Server R2... created with Silverlight...
http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/capabilities/reader/

BizUnit 3.0 Beta Release

2008-02-16T19:15:00.000+01:00

published now... http://www.codeplex.com/bizunit/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=10768

Starting BizTalk Orchestration with a Request... some strategies

2008-02-15T14:00:00.001+01:00

In some cases you have to start an orchestration workflow with sending a request. Generally you need a receive shape with the active flag as first shape in a orchestration to start a new instance. I watch some strategies for this case...

1. You have to find a possibility to start with a receive shape. This can be a SQL Adapter wich queries a simple database. Advantage: you can schedule the instanciation. Disadvantage: Traffic...

2. You have to write your own "Schedule Adapter". This is the possibility i prefer. In that case you have no traffic on a database or on other systems. Use the Adapterframework... but this is a lot of work... Once written and tested you have a powerful tool for future use...

3. Write a WebService which schedules a call to a HTTP Receive port... hmmm... ok... but it would work.

My conclusion... if you have to instanciate a new instance of an orchestration... you have to use a receive shape... OR you have a scenario where you can use the CallOrchestration or StartOrchestration shape.

BizTalk Adapter Pack launches

2008-02-13T08:19:00.000+01:00

Microsoft launches the BizTalk Adapter Pack... nice to have.... a Microsoft SAP Adapter...

http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/evaluation/adapter/default.mspx

Source Control Subversion... i use it :-)

2008-02-11T14:16:00.000+01:00

ok... some people think i'm a microsoft remote controlled marketing developer... :-)

and yes... i like the tools and the .net framework and the biztalk server and all the microsoft development stuff... BUT...
i looked beyond one's own nose...

and now i'm using oracle berkeley DB with apache 2 server and the source control system subversion... and it workes great... ok... i would not use this constellation for developing with more than one developer... but i'm still a one man show... (till the end of the year) and this is very smart for me... give it a try... :-)

BizUnit rules

2008-02-09T19:21:00.000+01:00

In all past projects i searched for a way to unit test biztalk project. now i'm ready to go with BizUnit... very nice... now quality is going forward...

Odette FTP WebService

2008-01-31T19:33:00.000+01:00

Here we go...

First job i have to implement an Odette FTP (OFTP) C# Web Service. OFTP is a communication standard used by the german automotive industry (http://www.vda.de/).

I found only an open source java project and some commercial implementation, but no product filled my requirements. so i will do all the work based on the RFC 2204 documentation...

I will present some snippets of my work later...

Starting own company

2008-01-25T22:40:00.000+01:00

2008 is the time to start my own company. My themes are .NET development, windows workflow foundation and (of course) connecting the worlds with SAP and BizTalk Server Technology...

BizTalk 2006 and log4net

2007-12-21T10:59:00.000+01:00

after using log4net with biztalk 2004 i decide to use this logging mechanism in biztalk 2006 (r2), too.

i wrote a simple c# class library witch wraps the logging functionality and this is usable from within an orchestration (expression shape, etc.).

the directory for the configuration file will be received at runtime with a registry key entry.

it works fine for me.... and is small and simple... just try...

all of you a merry x-mas and a happy year 2008...

SharePoint 2007, Workflows, Infopath and InitiationData

2007-12-03T11:04:00.000+01:00

I developed a custom workflow with the Windows Workflow Foundation. This workflow uses InfoPath forms.
After i deployed the feature, i got a null value exception in my InitiationData property.

Doing some research and found a solution.

The VS.NET 2005 template does not do the activity binding in designer. Sometimes.
You have to insert the binding manual:

System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityBind activitybind1 = new System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityBind();
System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityBind activitybind2 = new System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityBind();

and

activitybind1.Name = "YourWorkflowClassName";
activitybind1.Path = "Your workflow ID property name";
activitybind2.Name = "YourWorkflowClassName";
activitybind2.Path = "Yor workflow properties name";
this.onWorkflowActivated.SetBinding(Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions.OnWorkflowActivated.WorkflowIdProperty, ((System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityBind)(activitybind1)));
this.onWorkflowActivated.SetBinding(Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions.OnWorkflowActivated.WorkflowPropertiesProperty, ((System.Workflow.ComponentModel.ActivityBind)(activitybind2)));

MOSS 2007 and Windows Workflow Foundation | Simple Send Mail Sample

2007-11-13T10:33:00.000+01:00

This will describe a simple workflow, developed with Windows Workflow Foundation, to send a email.

1. Create new Sequential SharePoint Workflow Project in VS.NET
2. Add "OnWorkflowActivated"-Activity to the Workflow.
3. Add "SendEMail"-Activity to the Workflow.

4. Set the Correlation Token and Workflow Properties on the first activity.

5. Set the Correlation Token on the second activity.

6. Some code-behind snippets:

public SPWorkflowActivationProperties _flowProperties = new PWorkflowActivationProperties();

private void onWorkflowActivated_Invoked(object sender, ExternalDataEventArgs e)
{
SPListItem document = _flowProperties.Item;
....

private void SendNow(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
sendEmail2.To ="admin@test";
sendEmail2.Subject = "Testmail Windows WF";
sendEmail2.From = "SSP System";
//Get some information about the Sharepoint List Item (this._flowProperties)
sendEmail2.Body = "This is a testmail" + this._flowProperties.ItemUrl + " " + this._flowProperties.WebUrl;
}

7. Generate the code for feature.xml and workflow.xml (Right Click...)

8. Sign the assembly
9. Deploy with stsadm (first create new template/feature folder (here WorkflowTestField) in common files/microsoft shared/webserverextensions/12). Add both xml files to this folder and user GACUTIL to add the workflow dll to the gac.

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\bin\stsadm" -o deactivatefeature -filename WorkflowTestField\feature.xml -url http://testweb:11111/

pause

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\bin\stsadm" -o uninstallfeature -filename WorkflowTestField\feature.xml

pause

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\bin\stsadm" -o installfeature -filename WorkflowTestField\feature.xml -force

pause

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\bin\stsadm" -o activatefeature -filename WorkflowTestField\feature.xml -url http://testweb:11111/

pause

iisreset

IE "Click to Activate"

2007-11-09T09:23:00.000+01:00

One thing in www drives me realy crazy. The "Click to Activate" message when using an type of "object, embed, applet" object in Internet Explorer.

Microsoft announces:

Microsoft has now licensed the technologies from Eolas, removing the “click to activate” requirement in Internet Explorer. Because of this, we're removing the “click to activate” behavior from Internet Explorer!

Pete Brown blogs the solution for this. Thank you for this message....

SMTP Emulator under Vista

2007-11-05T11:59:00.000+01:00

There is no SMTP service under Windows Vista, but i needed to simulate SMTP traffic on my local Vista machine.

I found a cool tool on Channel 9 : http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=281695

I modified the Server.cs because of some NotSupportedErrors:

void Session_MessageReceived(object sender, MessageEventArgs e)
{
try
{
// Save the message in the pickup directory
string filePath =
Application.UserAppDataPath + @"\" + e.Subject + " (" + e.MessageId + ").eml";
StreamWriter file
= File.CreateText(filePath);
file.Write(e.Data);
file.Close();
_ControlPanelForm.Invoke(new SetStatusDelegate(_ControlPanelForm.SetStatus),
new object[] { String.Format("Recieved: {0}", e.Subject) });
}
catch (Exception) { }
}

New MS Logos Received

2007-11-01T11:48:00.000+01:00

Microsoft received my latest exam results... Here is my actual logo library...

Nullable types in .NET 2.0,3.0,3.5

2007-10-31T11:58:00.000+01:00

it's not really new, but there are some people out there in space who don't know:

DateTime sDate = null; .... this will not work because DateTime is not nullable...

BUT... in some cases you need to define a Null value for example to write in database... You can define the follwing;

DateTime? sDate = null; ... this will work and you can ask for HasValue if sDate is filled with a DateTime or if it is null....

MCTS BizTalk 2006

2007-10-31T11:53:00.000+01:00

ok... final spurt for 2007... i passed the 70-235 BizTalk 2006 exam with 985 point!

Now i'm owner of Micrsoft Certified Solution Developer .NET and Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist for BizTalk Server 2006.

Cheers.... :-)

MCSD certification 70-300

2007-10-19T16:10:00.000+02:00

by the way... today i passed the 70-300... :-)

CAPICOM now supported for VISTA

2007-10-18T14:52:00.000+02:00

I just learnt today that because of the impact this was having, CAPICOM is now indeed officially supported on Vista in its version 2.1.0.2, which can be downloaded here:

Platform SDK Redistributable: CAPICOM
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=860ee43a-a843-462f-abb5-ff88ea5896f6&DisplayLang=en

MOSS 2007 Document Information Panel

2007-09-19T20:51:00.000+02:00

Here's a 5 minute clip about how to use the document information panel

MOSS 2007 and Host Headers

2007-09-19T20:35:00.000+02:00

I had some troubles to configure Host Headers in the MOSS 2007.
This link should help.... Click Me

Thanks to the netherlands....

MOSS 2007 Installing IFilter

2007-09-19T20:23:00.000+02:00

OK... Its not the thing you read in the f#+ manual...

This is about to register a new icon for a document type and install an IFilter for these type.

1. STOP the IIS

2. Copy the image to display for these doc type to the IMAGE folder in web server extensions/12/... and add the entry for the icon mapping into the /... DOCICON.xml

3. Run Setup.exe of the IFilter (or whatever the installer of the IFilter is put into)

4. Restart IIS

5. Start a FULL crawl again of you MOSS 2007 webs to include the new doc type to the index

That's the magic... :-)

MOSS 2007 Gradual Upgrade

2007-09-06T11:42:00.000+02:00

I did a successfull upgrade to MOSS 2007 from SPS 2003 with the gradual upgrade. Some problems needed to be eliminated were:

- Group was empty or.... not allowed sign /\*....
-> I deleted some Users from this web and the process could be completed

- Web /XYZ was not found
-> There was a failure with a configured web so i did not do an upgrade on this web

To understand how the gradual upgrade works this may be helpfull to you:

This is who the upgrade process is defined with a gradual upgrade:

1. Define a new web to host the upgraded site
2. The old web got a new port, so it is available after the upgrade process
3. The new web got the old URL with the context of the new IIS Web Application
4. First upgrade the ROOT Website... then upgrade the SubWebs (or check all checkboxes in the central administration)

When the upgrade process fails and you accidentally press the DELETE Job button you can start the job again via command line tool stsadm. See this helful Step-By-Step Instruction.

By the way... have you opened a support call @ microsoft for a MOSS 2007 problem in this days? The MOSS 2007 Team is very very busy and it could take 4!-6! weeks to get a response of your call.... oh my god.... The cause are the many request for this product... totally unexpected... :-)

SPS 2003 Migration to MOSS 2007

2007-09-04T14:00:00.000+02:00

Ok.... learning by desaster... :-)

I tried to upgrade a SPS 2003 to MOSS 2007 for a customer and failed with the inplace option. The upgrade wizard failed in step 2 with a error message while starting the search service. I opened a MS support call for this case and the key message from MS was this:

When saving a page with old Frontpage in SPS 2003 the site will be ghosted and from this point a inplace migration to MOSS 2007 is not possible.

I got a link to a blog from Joel Oslo a member of the MS product team and will try the hint to use gradual upgrade.

BizTalk and HTTPS Messages

2007-08-11T18:36:00.000+02:00

If you plan to receive HTTPS messages with a BizTalk System, you did a good job when you design the system with these structure:

Use a ASP.NET WebService to receive the HTTPS messages in the DMZ. The WebService forwarded the messages to a message queueing service in your corporate domain and use the MSMQ Adapter to receive the messages in the BizTalk System. This will work fine for me.

XEnroll and the request store

2007-07-25T14:53:00.000+02:00

Some days ago i did some work with the CryptoAPI and XEnroll (you remember).

Now i'm a little bit shifter.... :-)

When you create a request on machine A and you will write the certificate on machine B you cannot use the acceptPKCS7 method in the ICEnroll, because a dummy certificate is created on machine A and will be checked when you use this method.... and you get a COM Exception if the dummy certificate is not present...

But i'm searching for a usable way to set the property RequestStoreName to the user profile so the user can write the certificate on machine B, when he logged on with the same account....

....to be continued....

Fast, faster, Lucene.NET

2007-07-20T11:45:00.000+02:00

To implement a fast search on large numbers of diffenerent document types i used Lucene.NET. This open source project is an adaption of a Java implementation and works great.

I combined the indexing with Microsoft and Adobe IFilter and the search results are shown very fast.

Lucene.NET is also free for commercial use!

Here is a snippet for the index service:

Document doc = new Document();

TextReader reader = new IFilter.FilterReader(fileOrDirectory);

using (reader)
{
doc.Add(new Field("CONTENT", reader));

doc.Add(new Field("FILENAME", fileOrDirectory, Field.Store.YES, Field.Index.NO));

string rootFolder = this.GetRootFolder(fileOrDirectory);
doc.Add(new Field("ROOT", rootFolder, Field.Store.YES, Field.Index.NO));

string currentFolder = this.GetCurrentFolder(fileOrDirectory);
doc.Add(new Field("FOLDER", currentFolder, Field.Store.YES, Field.Index.NO));

string parentFolder = this.GetParentFolder(fileOrDirectory);
doc.Add(new Field("PARENT", parentFolder , Field.Store.YES, Field.Index.NO));

//CONTENT = The text content of the doc
//FILENAME = The complete path and name of the file (incl. unc root)
//ROOT = The root folder for these document
//FOLDER = The folder of these document
//PARENT = The parent folder of these document

writer.AddDocument(doc);

}

BizTalk SAP Schema Generation

2007-07-09T10:55:00.000+02:00

I had some trouble while generating a SAP schema in BizTalk 2006 and the SAP .NET Connector 2.0...

The generation failed with the message "Missing SAP.Connections namespace". You have to deinstall the SAP.NET connector 2.0 and install the SAP.NET connector 1.1 with BizTalk Adapter for mySAP 2.0 and it works...

BizTalk and SAP Part 2

2007-07-04T08:50:00.000+02:00

ok... after some installation stress with MiniSAP i have now a working development environment to do integration with SAP and BizTalk.... I can post data to the SAP and receive data from the SAP... *applaud*

If you want to use the SAP .NET Connector 2.0 you have to install the VS.NET 2003 and the .NET framework 1.1... Or you will be not able to install the connector...

After you did that you have to install VS.NET 2005 (if you have it not installed yet....) and the .NET Framework 3.0....

Then install BizTalk Server 2006 with Development Tools.... and the SAP Adapter.... (which can only be installed if the .NET Connector 2.0 is installed)....

Now you are ready to develop applications with biztalk to connect to and from SAP...

You have to create the SAP Proxy with VS.NET 2003 and develop you BTS application in VS.NET 2005 ( The SAP Adapter is choosable there, too)....

BUT.... it does not work under Windows Vista.... You have to use XP SP2... (i did it in a virtual machine)....

When will SAP accept that there is a new development environment and a new OS? i don`t know.... *grumpf*

BizTalk 2007 and SAP Integration

2007-06-27T16:55:00.000+02:00

Working on a new project to integrate .NET applications with SAP systems.... hard work....

First of all you need (if you do not want to write your own) the SAP .NET Connector.... but you (and your customer) have to buy a SAP development licence if you want to use this Connector.... expensive thing....

I did some research and read the SAP book "Integration von SAP NetWeaver und Microsoft .NET"... I'm annoyed about it.... some example? Read this:

Page 30 (i translated):

"A big software vendor like SAP is disallowed, in the interest of the customer, to be depended on a single technology vendor (Microsoft)" [no comment]

Page 75 (i translated again):

"The SAP Business Connector is be able to handle as well HTML, XML as WebServices, too..." [no comment again, ok.... one small.... *WOW* xml AND webservices] *grumpf*

i think the authors did some bad research in the .NET world... and of course "new" technologies... *sorry*

But i accept the challenge and will be do good work with the help of BizTalk 2006... :-)

MOSS 2007 Deployment

2007-06-27T16:45:00.000+02:00

I had tested a publishing scenario with MOSS 2007. I had one Server with 2 SSPs and in these SSPs are my sites (and of course MySites) hosted. The first SSP i call it internalSSP has my 1:1 web application to publish for external use in in the externalSSP.

My first try with a content deployment job failed with the message:

"The specified name is already in use. A list, survey, discussion board, or document library cannot have the same name as another list, survey, discussion board, or document library in this Web site. Use your browser’s Back button, and type a new name."

What have i done? I had created a web application for external use based on the same template like the source content web application. That was my mistake... you have to use a blank template and everything works fine.

Now i'm able to approve and publish content....

Principles, principles, principles and of course BizTalk

2007-06-19T21:11:00.000+02:00

ok...

every developer has his principles....

every developer should have his principles...

one of my principles is that every software that is rolled out in a productive environment was tested, tested, tested.....

but in this week i was infected by the stress at the customer front and broke in a small and single code snipped with my principles....

and it was a bad (or should i say good?) experience....

it went wrong....

i moved back to my principles and learned my lesson... :-)

I pimped up my know how with the biztalk server 2006.... and i ask myself "how could i ever work with the biztalk 2004?" the bts 2006 is so much better... in configuration, in setup, in development... and i would say in everything....

Phrasenschwein / Cliche pig

2007-05-11T14:38:00.000+02:00

in our universe there are some sentences you don't have to use in front of your customers:

(Very free translations... *g)

"Gestern gings noch " "Yesterday... it worked...."

"Ich war da gar nicht mehr dran" "I did not do anything with that"

"Ich weiss auch nicht warum es jetzt läuft" "I do not know why it is now running"

"Ich mach das mal eben" "I do this quickly"

"Das geht schnell" "This does not take long time to work"

"Ist nur noch ein Bug" "There is only one bug"

"Ich hatte keine Zeit zu testen" "I had no time to test the solution"

"Das wird teuer" "That will cost some extra money"

"Das hatten Sie aber anders gesagt" "I think you said this not like you said that"

"Das kann man jetzt nicht mehr ändern" "We are unable to change this part now"

Some more? You are welcome to post ist... :-)

MOSS 2007

2007-05-09T10:13:00.000+02:00

We plan to launch some projects with the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007. I found some helpful links to get know-how about the new stuff.

Here is a article about using the MOSS 2007 as an applicatioan development platform .

My main focus today is to migrate the "old" 2003 to the new 2007. I did some tests about that. I will report here my achievement later...

My first impression is that the deployment of MOSS 2007 projects have the same bad handle like the 2003 (using of GAC, etc.) but i'm still at the beginning of my journey through this project. :-)

If there is a (customer-friendly) way to avoid using the GAC with MOSS 2007... let me know...

Another point is that it is impossible to develop webparts with vs.net add-ins on client machines (XP,Vista= because you need to install WSS 3.0... and this is only possible on Windows Server 2003...

If there is a way to develop webparts on my Vista machine without installing the WSS 3.0 and without using a Windows 2003 VM... let me know...

Job Offer [German]

2007-04-20T16:28:00.000+02:00

.NET Software-Developer/-In für Festanstellung gesucht

Gute Leute zu bekommen ist schwer, darum mal auf diesem Wege...

Wir sind ein expandierendes, mittelständisches Unternehmen mit Sitz in Moers/NRW und arbeiten für große, namenhafte deutsche Unternehmen.

Als Microsoft Certified Gold Partner bieten wir unserer Kundschaft qualitativ hochwertige Produkte (.NET Software und Beratung).

Zur Verstärkung unseres Teams suchen wir dringend eine(n) erfahrenen .NET Software-Developer/-In zum nächstmöglichen Termin.

Sie verfügen über ausgezeichnete Kenntnisse des .NET-Frameworks (idealerweise ab 2.0) und können Referenzprojekte benennen?

Sie wollen immer auf dem technologisch modernsten Stand entwickeln?

Sie können bei Kunden sicher auftreten?

Dann sollten Sie mir Ihr Profil für eine erste Kontaktaufnahme mailen. Gehalt ist Verhandlungssache.

Profil bitte an [andre.achtermeier_PLEASEREMOVE@NOSPAM_prodot.de].

Wir garantieren absolute Vertraulichkeit. Ihre Daten werden nicht an Dritte weitergegeben!

Don't forget some performance methods...

2007-04-10T12:40:00.000+02:00

I reviewed some "old" code and found C# code like this:

if ( name == null OR name.Equals("") ) {...}

don't do that.... do it this way:

if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(name)) {...}

Much better...

Also i found some "old" code to get the first digits in a string... it was so cruel i won't write it here... Please use regular expressions like this code:

using System.Text.RegularExpressions
...
Regex regexp = new Regex(@"[0-9]+", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);
MatchCollection matches = regexp.Matches(string2Search);
if (matches.Count > 0)
{
stringResult = matches[0].Value;
}

Experiences with WF

2007-03-23T09:40:00.000+01:00

Long time ago since my last blog but now i find some time...

We are now productive with our pki workflow, based on windows workflow foundation and i'm be on the edge what will be happen when the users work with all the workflow tasks. :-)

There is some mystery about parameter for a workflow instance. If i added some new public parameters for the workflow they were not visible at once and i got some error messages when starting an instance ["There is no public writable property xyz in the activity abc..."].

The solution was to close the VS.NET designer and rebuild all again. After these steps the properties were all accessible.. good to know... :-)

Is it Workflow or what?

2007-02-08T19:17:00.000+01:00

hmmmm...

the last three days i pre-roll out my WF-Smartcard-Fingerprint-System for my customer...

some bugs where found but nothing that take me (or him) wild. (All bugs are due to my inattention... ts ts ts... *g) but i think i did a good job and now it's time for the "wording"... means that the UI is designed for the User... and i hope that i don't need to change much functionality...

but what clients want and what they tell us are two different things...

always? not always but often always...

:-)

Fight the bull

2007-02-05T09:27:00.000+01:00

A friend shows me this cool site about the language of some buisness people. If you are boring about the old power point presentation styles with all the "bulls" and text and animated pictures.... you should read these... Fight the bull!

Vista Launch for User and the german press...

2007-01-30T09:21:00.000+01:00

Today is the official launch for windows vista. As a Microsoft partner i developed for and with Vista since a few month and i'm really ardent about that.

But i'm really... sorry... pissed of the german press which do some bad inquest about the new OS. There was a speaker from "Computerbild" (Yellowpress for DAUs) on TV who advised the user to make a parallel installation with XP for the next YEARS because of the fact that XP is supported for the next seven years. *grumpf*

Another "journalist" said that Vista is delivered in the Home and Premium Edition. And the other editions? Ultimate? *another-grumpf*

It seems that the press built on old prejudices. So my appeal to all... Give Vista a chance... It's worth... and don't worry when the os did not do what you want... In vista all security features are switched ON... read the messages... it help's... :-)

Workflow Foundation Tracking Viewer

2007-01-29T09:52:00.000+01:00

I had found some idle time in the evening and read the coding sample in the sdk for hosting the workflow designer. interesting stuff. i had implemented my own tracking viewer (maybe on dependence of the sample) and it works great. i have written a simple tracking view of a workflow. all i need is the instance GUID of the wf and some nice icons for representing the state of an activity.

Here is my snippet (dirty) calling from the main program. the other classes are (as i said) like in the sdk sample:

if ((null != workflowInstanceId) && (Guid.Empty != workflowInstanceId))
{
SqlTrackingWorkflowInstance sqlTrackingWorkflowInstance = null;
if (true == monitorDatabaseServiceValue.TryGetWorkflow(workflowInstanceId, out sqlTrackingWorkflowInstance))
{
//Get the status of the activities
this.activityStatusListValue.Clear();
for (int index = sqlTrackingWorkflowInstance.ActivityEvents.Count; index >= 1; index--)
{
ActivityTrackingRecord activityTrackingRecord = sqlTrackingWorkflowInstance.ActivityEvents[index - 1];
if (!activityStatusListValue.ContainsKey(activityTrackingRecord.QualifiedName))
{
ActivityStatusInfo latestActivityStatus = new ActivityStatusInfo(activityTrackingRecord.QualifiedName, activityTrackingRecord.ExecutionStatus.ToString());

activityStatusListValue.Add(activityTrackingRecord.QualifiedName, latestActivityStatus);
this.workflowViewHost.ActivityStatusList = this.activityStatusListValue;
}
}
//Open workflow
Activity workflowDefinition = sqlTrackingWorkflowInstance.WorkflowDefinition;
if (null != workflowDefinition)
{
this.workflowViewHost.OpenWorkflow(workflowDefinition);
}
}
}

Some MS Paint Fun

2007-01-25T09:33:00.000+01:00

Watch this... and learn... :-)

Some hints about certificate templates

2007-01-19T14:20:00.000+01:00

If there is some one who is working on a similiar project:

The certificate templates from the CA are stored in the active directory.

In my case i need to know wich certificate rights are inserted in a certificate template.

One possibility is the following:

1. Open a DirectoryEntry with the LDAP path

(LDAP://CN=Certificate Templates,CN=Public Key Services,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,[YOURFOREST])

to the templates.

2. Open a corresponding DirectorySearcher

3. Search for "pKICertificateTemplate" as object class

4. Search for "pKIExtendedKeyUsage" in the DirectoryEntry Properties

If you are interested in more... feel free to mail me....

Ladies and gentlemen... The solution....

2007-01-17T14:07:00.000+01:00

YES.... now i understood the concept of the Utimaco CSP.... There are 2 areas on the card. A public and a secure one. The certificates are stored in the public section of the card, so anyone can read a certificate stored there (secure?).... BUT when a user want to use his private key for anything in these context he need to verify his fingerprint.... ONLY the private key is stored in the secure section of the card....

So i enforce the fingerprint to simulate signing a hash with SignHash(...) .NET method.... it realy works...

I also implemented the pinvoke methods for the cryptSignHash method and it really worked better for me....

This is the solution for the moment... now i can go on with the implementation of a secure PKI....

The fingerprint and the cryptoAPI. Realy secure?

2007-01-16T14:25:00.000+01:00

here i go again for some incredible cryptoAPI stuff.

as i wrote in some posts before i work on a PKI solution with using fingerprints to read certificates from a smartcard. we use a fingerprint/smartcard reader from the swedish company Precise Biometrics with cards from Utimaco.

I wrote C# code wich can read certificates from the card without scanning the fingerprint. Is that a feature? Now we have a cool fingerprint scanner and i can run a small code snippet to read, write and delete certificates from the smart card without using it... *grumpf*

Some Windows Workflow Foundation stuff...

2006-12-20T12:34:00.000+01:00

The mission is hot. I have to create some workflows for my PKI and use the WF under Windows Vista. Looks very great and is easy to implement. In combination with the plugin design of our solution are web applications the past... :-)

PDC 2007 Los Angeles

2006-12-13T11:49:00.000+01:00

Microsoft announced the next PDC back in L.A. 2.-5.10.2007... See you in the states again... *freu*

Some more CryptoAPI salad

2006-11-28T18:51:00.000+01:00

Ok,

now i have implemented the code in these order:

- Check if smart card reader is present and smart card is present: SCardAPI
- Read the certificates stored on the card: CryptoAPI
- Create and submit request to the CA: CEnroll2Class

To sign a request with a certificate i use the System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs Namespace.

The next step is to use the Windows Workflow Foundation to create workflows with these mechanism to build a secure PKI.

Back to the (Win) Roots

2006-11-27T12:30:00.000+01:00

ok,

here are the results from my attempt to run the capicom under Windows Vista:

1. Capicom is not runnable under Vista
2. I have to code with the CryptoAPI and SCardAPI and write my own Wrapper

(I opened a ticket at the Microsoft Support and Microsoft approved the above.)

So i did and have now a runnable wrapper with the same functions like the CAPICOM,
which is running on all (Windows) plattforms...

Capicom salad

2006-11-16T14:16:00.000+01:00

I develop a c# wrapper for a biometric smart card reader in a PKI and i don't found any useful solution to iterate over the stores on the card.

There is a C-WinAPI sample in the reference, but there is no support for smart card stores.

So here my question: Does anyone know a implementation of this problem?

I can do a workaround. I request a certificate for a named store and use only this one named store (otherwise the CA will add a GUID-named store to the CSP).

Thank you... :-)

Blue screen screensaver

2006-11-10T17:14:00.000+01:00

today some fun from microsoft... a screensaver with bluescreen pics... :-)

Where is all the output?

2006-11-08T10:02:00.000+01:00

I wonder where the Console.Write output is when running a unit test with Visual Studio 2005.
I found it... :-)

You have to click on "View Test Result Details"... there is a standard output window...

Andre goes biometric

2006-11-07T11:48:00.000+01:00

now i started my new mission. the first project is to implement a biometric scanner software to read certificates for signing critical content... sounds great for me... i will tell you some details in the nearest future... but everything is up with .NET 2.0/3.0 and the windows workflow foundation...

.NET 3.0 Redistributable Package

2006-11-07T11:47:00.000+01:00

...is now final...

Software Cells

2006-10-25T12:15:00.000+02:00

Since Ralf Westphal wrote in October 2005 about his concept "Software Cells", I'm a fan of this architecture and think that this is the future (or is it presence?) of modern Software Development. The old n-Tier/Layer Model has disused... It's a bright idea to compare Software Architectures with biological Cells... and it realy works... so change your view and open your eyes for this...

.NET 3.0 / WinFX

2006-10-24T09:27:00.000+02:00

Next week i start my new mission at prodot in Moers. I'm very excited... and I'm feel good..
We will rule the (IT) world... or with the words of Steve Balmer: "WinFx! WinFx! WinFx!"... Tschakka... :-)

By the way... yesterday evening my wife wanted to watch some episodes of her "Gilmore Girls",
so i had some time to play. I downloaded the demo version of the new microsoft flight simulator but i screwd up... Looks great and transported a cool atmosphere BUT I didn't accomplished to start the engine of the planes... As a pilot i would be famished... *g

Web 2.0 Hype or Bleb?

2006-10-19T11:41:00.000+02:00

Some interesting comments about the new "Hype" Web 2.0.
And who really needs YouTube? [A qualified question]

IE 7 IS RELEASE...

2006-10-19T10:19:00.000+02:00

Download and feel good... : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/default.mspx

HybridDictionary Class

2006-10-12T09:47:00.000+02:00

I get to know (and love) the .NET Class HybridDictionary in the System.Collections Namespace. For some people out there old stuff but for me a new pleasure.

The cool class acts like a hashtable but when the length is small it uses a perfomant system and switches to a "normal" Hashtable when the length growth up.

.NET for Java Developers

2006-10-10T14:14:00.000+02:00

Some resources for the never ending product war between .NET and JAVA.
Certainly not neutrally... *g

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/java/default.aspx

By the way: Has someone informations about the next PDC?

I'm leaving the paradies

2006-09-29T09:05:00.000+02:00

After 4 years of software engineering for applied technologies in Essen i found a new challenge as a lead consultant in Moers. Another young, dynamic and strong growing company that do consulting and development for all branches. I will do my very best to advance the good reputation (certainly of me and the company *g).

Because of some questions...

2006-09-22T09:01:00.000+02:00

Dear Headhunters,

... my principles: I will never write software (or do consulting) for the german GEZ and Jamba...

thank you for your comprehension... :-)

Edigas REQRES

2006-09-18T10:03:00.000+02:00

I'm searching for an example of the Edigas type REQRES. In the specification of this type
there is only an example of REQEST. Is this correct? I need this example for an austrian gas company... thanks for response...

Sometimes time is running away...

2006-09-14T16:12:00.000+02:00

I survived...

2006-09-14T11:34:00.000+02:00

...vienna and the 9/11... :-)

My article about the exception handling object will release in dotnetpro 10.2006.

see: www.dotnetpro.de

Don't sink into oblivion

2006-09-06T09:06:00.000+02:00

In honor of ITIL - Thank`s for the beginning of modern Service Management.

Vienna cUsoon

2006-09-05T10:30:00.000+02:00

My next mission put me to vienna (Austria). I fly at 11/9... Hope the date isn't wreck... At all hazards i extend my life assurance... [One's legs turn to jelly] :-)

Today's Recommendation

2006-09-05T10:25:00.000+02:00

For a customer i use the CxOne Templates to describe some Use Cases. Fine Tools. The especialness in my case is to describe the use cases with words and not with a UML Use Case Diagram. Works fluent...

Some online banking fun

2006-08-31T10:51:00.000+02:00

I have some similies from 3 german financial institutes online banking. The worst is the german "Dresdner Bank". here a error message encountered today @ the entrance of online banking:

Not Found
The requested URL /fb/setzkastn/entryAnonym0.html was not found on this server.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Great programming... lets mix some german words with english and do some spelling mistakes ('setzkastn' vs. 'setzkasten') and it looks like the string above... :-)