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Business Rules Hello World2 (BizTalk Server Sample)

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The Business Rules Hello World2 sample extends the Business Rules Hello World1 sample by demonstrating how to version, publish, and deploy the XML rule set to the shared SQL rule store, and how to run the policy using the Policy object provided by the Business Rules Framework. The sample also demonstrates dynamic policy updates in action.

Note

This sample assumes that the user has installed the Rule Engine Update Service and Business Rules Components (located under the "Additional Software" node) during installation of the product.

Note

You use Policy objects to integrate the rule engine into any stand-alone application. The Policy object is the abstraction through which multiple rule engine instances are managed, rule sets are retrieved and instantiated from the shared SQL store, and updates to the policies are retrieved and published to the hosting application.

For basic information about the rule set defined, and sample facts constructed by this sample, see Business Rules Hello World1.

What This Sample Does

This sample creates an executable that performs the following sequence of steps:

  1. Calls the method CreateRuleset to build the rule set described in the Remarks section.

  2. Calls the method SaveToFile to demonstrate saving a rule set to a file.

  3. Calls the method LoadFromFile to demonstrate loading a rule set from a file.

  4. Deploys the rule set to a shared SQL rule store.

  5. Runs the rule set by using a Policy object, and by using the same set of sample facts used in the Business Rules Hello World1 sample.

  6. Pauses, enabling you to modify the rule set file SampleRuleStore.xml in a specific way.

  7. Runs the rule set again using a Policy object, the now modified rule set, and again with the same set of sample facts used in the Business Rules Hello World1 sample.

  8. Cleans up by deleting the rule set file and the deployed rule set records in preparation for subsequent running of the sample.

Note

For important information about all samples in this SDK, see Samples.

Where to Find This Sample

<Samples Path>\Business Rules\Business Rules Hello World2\

The following table shows the files in this sample and describes their purpose.

File(s) Description
App.ico, AssemblyInfo.cs, BusinessRulesHelloWorld2.csproj, BusinessRulesHelloWorld2.sln Project, solution, and related files for the portion of this sample that creates, saves, loads, deploys, and executes a rule set.
HelloWorld2.cs Visual C# file that contains methods to demonstrate creating a rule set, saving a rule set to a file, loading a rule set from a file, deploying the rule set to a shared Microsoft SQL Server rule store, and then running the rule set by using a Policy object.
Cleanup.bat Used to undeploy assemblies and remove them from the global assembly cache (GAC). Removes send and receive ports. Removes Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) virtual directories as needed.
SampleDocumentInstance.xml Sample input file that conforms to the schema defined in the file SampleSchema.xsd.
SampleSchema.xsd Schema file that defines a simple schema with an element referenced by the rule set created in the Visual C# file Class1.cs.
Setup.bat Used to build and initialize this sample.
In the \HelloWorld2Library folder:

AssemblyInfo.cs, HelloWorld2Library.csproj, HelloWorld2Library.sln		 Project, solution, and related files for the portion of this sample that provides the class that defines the objects referenced by the created rule set.
In the \HelloWorld2Library folder:

HelloWorld2LibraryClass.cs		 Visual C# file that contains the property referenced in the IF portion of the created rule, and the method that may be called in the THEN portion of the created rule.

To build and initialize the Business Rules Hello World2 sample

  1. In a command window, navigate to the following folder:

    <Samples Path>\Business Rules\Business Rules Hello World2\

  2. Run the file Setup.bat, which performs the following actions:

    • Compiles and deploys the Visual Studio projects for this sample.

    Note

    You should confirm that BizTalk Server did not report any errors during the build and initialization process before attempting to run this sample.

    Note

    If you choose to open and build the projects in this sample without running the file Setup.bat, you must first create a strong name key pair using the .NET Framework Strong Name utility (sn.exe). Use this key pair to sign the resulting assemblies.

    Note

    To undo changes made by Setup.bat, run Cleanup.bat. You must run Cleanup.bat before running Setup.bat a second time.

To run the Business Rules Hello World2 sample

  1. In a command window, navigate to the following folder:

    <Samples Path>\Business Rules\Business Rules Hello World2\bin\Debug\

  2. In the command window, type the name of the file for this sample (BusinessRulesHelloWorld2.exe), and then press ENTER.

Hello World2 Output

Based on the nature of the created rule set, described in the Comments section of Business Rules Hello World1, if you run this sample with the provided sample input file SampleDocumentInstance.xml, which has a value of one (1) defined for its ID element, you will see the following output:

Creating a new ruleset ...  
Saving ruleset to SampleRuleStore.xml ...  
Loading ruleset ...  
Deploying the ruleset ...  
Sleeping for 60 seconds (so that the deployed ruleset becomes effective) ...  
Grabbing the policy ...  
Executing the policy...  
MySampleBusinessObject Class -- MySampleMethod executed for object 2 with parameter 5  
MySampleBusinessObject Class -- MySampleMethod executed for object 3 with parameter 5  
The major version of the policy was: 1  
The minor version of the policy was: 0  
Press the ENTER to continue after updating the policy...

Note

The output shown in bold is the output produced by the sample business object, defined by the files in the HelloWorld2Library folder that the rule set references. At this point, the application is left waiting in this state.

The next part of running the sample involves using the Business Rules Composer to change the business rules.

To use the Business Rules Composer to change the business rules

  1. To open the Business Rules Composer, click Start, click All Programs, click Microsoft BizTalk Server 20xx, and then click Business Rules Composer.

    Note

    On a system that supports User Account Control (UAC), you may need to run the tool with Administrative privileges. To do this, right-click the application, and then select Run as administrator.

  2. If a SQL Server dialog box appears on the computer running SQL Server, click OK to connect to the rule store.

  3. In Policy Explorer, below the SampleRuleSet node, right-click the node Version 1.0 – Deployed, and then click Copy.

  4. Right-click SampleRuleSet, and then click Paste (Policy Version).

  5. You can change the rule condition and action to meet your needs. For this procedure, click rule1 in Version 1.1 (not saved). In the right pane, right-click Conditions, and then click Add Logical NOT. Adding a Logical NOT operation to Not Equal to predicate is equivalent to using an Equal predicate.

  6. Right-click the node Version 1.1(not saved), and then click Save. Right-click again, and then click Publish. Right-click a third time and click Deploy.

  7. In the paused command window asking you to press any key to continue after updating the policy, press any key.

    Output (assuming you changed the rule by adding a logical Not) from the executable file BusinessRulesHelloWorld2.exe continues as follows:

Sleeping for 60 seconds (so that the deployed ruleset becomes effective) ...         
Grabbing the policy ...         
Executing the policy...         
MySampleBusinessObject Class -- MySampleMethod executed for object 1 with parameter 5         
The major version of the policy was: 1         
The minor version of the policy was: 1         
Press ENTER to continue after updating the policy...

Notice how the output has changed:

  • The output line in the method MySampleMethod only prints once now, for the instance of the MySampleBusinessObject class for which the MyValue property is equal to 1, rather than the previous rule of printing when the MyValue property is not equal to 1.

  • The minor version number of the policy is now 1.

See Also

Business Rules (BizTalk Server Samples Folder)