How to Configure a WCF-Custom Receive Handler

You must configure the receive handler properties if you want the WCF-Custom adapter to look up the custom behavior extensions from locations other than machine.config.

Why Should WCF-Custom Adapter Lookup Custom Behavior Extensions from Locations Other than machine.config?

Custom behavior extensions used by BizTalk Server are registered in the machine.config. Before loading the behavior extensions, the WCF-Custom adapter looks for the behavior extensions in machine.config. However, machine.config is ideally used to store configuration information that is required across all applications running on a particular computer. On the other hand, WCF custom behavior extensions may be required only by BizTalk Server and not by all the applications running on the computer. So, while storing the custom behavior extensions in machine.config serves the purpose, it is not the most optimal location.

With BizTalk Server, the adapter handler properties provide an additional location from which the WCF-Custom adapter can look up the custom behavior extensions. Note that this does not replace the behavior extensions already available in machine.config.

Additional Considerations

Keep the following points in mind while configuring the WCF-Custom receive handler properties:

• The custom behavior extensions must be available either in the machine.config or in the adapter handler properties. The custom behavior extensions must not be duplicated at both locations.

• If the custom behavior extension is already available in the machine.config and you try to set the same behavior extension for the adapter handler properties, you get an error as soon as you try to set the property.

• If the custom behavior extension is already set for the adapter handler properties and you then update the machine.config with the same behavior extension, you will get a runtime error and it is also logged in the event log. The receive location is also disabled.

• The assemblies referred in the custom behavior extension must be present in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) before you set the adapter handler properties.

Configuring the Adapter Handler Properties

Use the procedure in this topic to configure a WCF-Custom receive handler.

To configure the adapter handler properties

1. In the BizTalk Administration Console, expand BizTalk ServerAdministration, expand BizTalk Group, expand Platform Settings, and then expand Adapters.

2. In the expanded adapter list, click WCF-Custom, in the right pane, right-click the receive handler that you want to configure, and then click Properties.

3. In the Adapter Handler Properties dialog box, on the General tab, in the Host Name list, select the host with which the receive handler will be associated, and then click Properties.

4. In the WCF-Custom Transport Properties dialog box, on the WCF Extensions tab, do the following:

   Use this	To do this
   Import	Imports a WCF configuration file with WCF custom behavior extensions. Clicking this button opens the Import WCF configuration dialog box to browse and locate a WCF configuration file. Note that the file should be a valid WCF configuration file. For more information about WCF configuration schema, see “Windows Communication Foundation Configuration Schema” at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=163953.
   Export	Exports the WCF custom behavior extension to a WCF configuration file. Clicking this button opens the Export WCF configuration dialog box to browse and save the WCF configuration file.
   Clear	Clears the existing WCF custom behavior extension from the adapter handler properties.

See Also

Configuring the WCF-Custom Adapter