Another interview questions list for BizTalk
BizTalk in China
A: BizTalk is essentially Asynchronous. It can exhibit some
synchronous behavior, if an Orchestration is converted into a web
service.
Q: Enumerate the new functoids added BizTalk 2006?
Q: What is the difference between a Document Schema and a Property
Schema?
A: A document schema is like any regular schema, whereas a Property
schema consists of only child elements under a root node.
Q: Can an Envelope schema consist of more than one schema type?
A: Yes. Technically it is possible.
Q: Can a flat file message be processing without a pipeline?
A: A Pipeline's job is to convert any external format into XML, be it
a flat file or EDI or anything else.
Q: Can multiple messages be processed or batched without an envelope
schema?
A: It is possible to process multiple messages, without an envelope.
Q: What is property promotion, why is it required?
A: When a property is Promoted, it is exposed to the orchestration/
send port filters etc.
Q: In which scenarios would use a "promoted property" vs
"distinguished fields"?
A: The rule here is, if you dont want the schema element to appear in
send port filters/debugging information then make it a distinguished
field.
Q: In Biztalk, what does a message type consist of?
A: A message type consists of the TargetNamespace#RootElement name.
Q: What are un-typed messages, how does one create them?
A: A message created in BizTalk Orchestration is bound to a schema,
this is a typed message. In un-typed messages, the message is bound to
System.Xml.XmlDocument instead of a schema.
Q: What is the difference between static, dynamic and direct binding?
Q: How does one enable subscriptions in BizTalk?
A: A filter on the Send Port is the first step to enable subscriptions
in BizTalk.
Q: How do you prevent occuring of zombies in a Parallel Convoy?
Q: What is the difference between a delay shape vs a listen shape?
A: A 'Delay' is very much similar to a sleep on the current thread. A
'Listen' shape is used to wait for an incoming resource, with a
timeout period.
Q: When you use Call Orchestration shape vs Start Orchestration
shape?
A: A Call Orchestration returns the control back to the caller. A
Start Ochestration shape starts the orchestration in a non-
deterministic way.
Q: What is the difference between a "Message Assignment" shape and an
"Expression" shape?
A: A "Message Assignment" shape is used to create a new message and
assign values to it. A Expression shape is used to assign values to
variables and also write 'if' conditions.
Q: Does BizTalk Orchestrations support recursion?
A: An Orchestration does NOT support recursion.
Q: What is the purpose of the property "Activate" in a Receive shape?
A: It is used to invoke a new instance of an Orchestration.
Q: Can an orchestration Start without an Activatable receive?
A: A Nested Orchestration can be started without an Activatable
receive
Q: Is it necessary for all .NET components being called from an
Orchestration be Serializable?
A: Yes it is necessary. There are cases where a .NET component need
not be Serializable.
Q: When do we need set the property "Synchronized" = true for a
scope?
A: This needs to be set when a variable is shared across the branches
of a parallel shape.
Q: What is the difference between an Exception block and a
Compensation block? is it the equivalent of try-catch-finally?
Q: Is it possible to have a exception block for an Atomic scope? if
not why?
Q: How does one enable Correlations in BizTalk?
A: First create a Correlation type and then create an instance of it.
Q: Is it possible to share variables across two branches in a Parallel
shape?
Q: Does BizTalk automatically compensate a unsuccessful transaction?
Q: What is the main difference between a Long-Running transaction and
an Atomic Transaction in BizTalk context?
Q: In an Orchestration design, Orchestration "A" calls another
Orchestration "B", and vice versa. Is it possible to implement this
design?
A: It is NOT possible, since it forms a cyclic dependency.
Q: List out the three important things to consider while designing a
BizTalk orchestration!
A: The Incoming data format, The Business process and The Outgoing
data format.
Q: Enumerate the steps required to deploy an BizTalk solution from one
machine to another machine.