Inverse Direct Partner Binding

The Business Process Management solution is designed so that you can change the order processing stages without stopping the application. In order to decouple the processing stages (CableOrder1, CableOrder2) from the process manager (OrderManager), the solution uses a different technique for binding ports among these orchestrations.

In the usual form of binding, direct binding, the OrderManager orchestration would use the process stage orchestration as the value for the Partner Orchestration Port property. In direct binding like this the OrderManager orchestration depends on the strong names (which include the versions) of the process stages. This makes it impossible to alter the process stages without re-deploying the OrderManager orchestration. For more information about direct binding, see Port Bindings. Direct Binding might be illustrated this way:

In inverse direct partner binding, the receiving orchestration specifies the binding, rather than the originating orchestration. The port on the OrderManager is simply bound to itself. That is, the port on the OrderManager is specified for the PartnerOrchestrationPort property. However, the process stage orchestrations use the appropriate OrderManager port as the value for the PartnerOrchestrationPort property. This decouples the OrderManager from the versions of the process stage orchestrations and allows them to be changed without redeploying the OrderManager. Direct binding would not allow this decoupling. Inverse direct partner binding might be shown this way:

Note

Inverse direct binding also allows for communicating with partner orchestrations in a distribution-list like way. The OrderManger can use a single port to communicate with all stages. This enables you to add and remove stages without redesigning the orchestration.

See Also

Implementation Highlights of the Business Process Management Solution
Process Manager Logic