Chapter 7: Integrating with BizTalk Server 2004


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Introduction

The goal of any successful enterprise integration strategy is to develop and maintain a unified set of business processes, with each independent process becoming part of a loosely coupled set of enterprise integration that can collect and distribute information. True enterprise integration is more than just the process of exchanging data across a network. The more systems and applications that are added, the more complex the integration can become.

With XML acting as the underlying data exchange, BizTalk Server 2004 is a middleware solution that simplifies the task of enterprise integration. BizTalk allows you to design, maintain, and deploy integration components using the .NET

Framework. Acting as a distributed software layer, it abstracts the complexity of the underlying applications into a single manageable interface. BizTalk Server 2004 solves three common enterprise integration scenarios: Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), Business Process Automation (BPA), and Information Worker Integration.

Many times during the development of enterprise integration solutions, it becomes apparent that existing data collection mechanisms are both difficult and tightly coupled to existing applications. The native file form for InfoPath is XML; BizTalk Server 2004 uses InfoPath as an easy-to-use interface into Human Workflow Services (HWS). This not only enables enterprises to build human-based workflows from the familiar interface of Microsoft Office, but also exposes a set of constructs through the HWS Web Service, allowing you to retrieve activity workflow and process tracking information.

This lets you present different XML formats in an interactive form that allows data to be read, completed, and submitted by users of BizTalk integration processes. This chapter provides an introduction to BizTalk Server 2004 and how you can use it to develop InfoPath-based solutions. Also, we will cover some of the design patterns for developing these types of composite-based applications.




Programming Microsoft Infopath. A Developers Guide
Programming Microsoft Infopath: A Developers Guide
ISBN: 1584504536
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 111
Authors: Thom Robbins

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