WCF LOB Adapters are a new technology for integration with back-end systems and applications. WCF LOB adapters will supersede the BizTalk Adapter Framework. If you're running an ESB powered by Neuron, you can use these adapters too. Here's how to configure your bus to talk to a back end system using a WCF LOB adapter.

Step 1: Add a New Binding

Step 1 is to define a new binding to Neuron. A WCF LOB adapter is exposed to consumers as a new transport binding.

  • Launch the ESB Explorer, go to the Services > Bindings area, and click New to add a new binding.
  • Click the Browse button and navigate to the WFC LOB adapter assembly you want to support. The ESB Explorer will automaically locate and set the class name of the binding.
  • Save the new binding under a meaningful name.

Step 2: Add a New Service

Step 2 is to define an endpoint for the WCF LOB system. The WCF LOB adapter makes this look like a service.

  • Go to the Services > Endpoints area and click New to add a new service.
  • On the General tab, enter the access information for the service including address, binding, and contract. Select the binding you added in Step 1.
  • On the Security tab, if the service is secure, enter any credentials required such as username and password.
  • On the Ports tab, set up a Send Port to route message traffice to the back end service. Assign a subscriber Id and topic to use for this purpose.

Step 3: Start Messaging

At this point you're really done. Clients can now send messages to the back end service and receive replies. For successful communication check the following:

  • Messages need to use the proper schema and expected content
  • Messages need to specify support Action values

A technique I used with the samples in the WCF LOB SDK is to turn on WCF diagnostics and message logging when running the test client that comes with the samples. When viewing the logged messages with SvcTraceViewer, I now have examples of valid request and reply messages. Then I can use the .NET test client to send requests and verify that all is in working order.