Be.Stateless.BizTalk.Xml

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Overview

Be.Stateless.BizTalk.Xml is part of the BizTalk.Factory Runtime Package. This component essentially is an XML class library for general purpose Microsoft BizTalk Server® development.

Compiled XSLT Transforms on Steroids

Since its inception in the days of Microsoft BizTalk Server® 2009, BizTalk.Factory has always supported and encouraged the use of compiled XSLT transforms for obvious reasons. Even though Microsoft BizTalk Server® 2010 finally did the shift too, BizTalk.Factory kept its own XslCompiledTransform-wrapping API due the following two unique features:

• An XSLT stylesheet can combine multiple XSLT stylesheets via xsl:import or xsl:include top-level elements, see the dummy CompoundMapTransform for an example, or XslMapUrlResolver for some background information;

• An XSLT stylesheet that is executing in a pipeline can require access to the context of the message by simply declaring the distinguished XML namespace of the MessageContext pseudo extension object, see the dummy CompoundContextMapTransform for an example, or XslCompiledTransformDescriptor, XslCompiledTransformDescriptorBuilder, and Transformer for some background information.

Back in those days, even though it was made of a bunch of distinct assemblies, BizTalk.Factory 1.0 was both a giant monolithic repository and deployment package. With the advent of BizTalk.Factory 2.0, the monolith has been split into a bunch of repositories, individual deployment packages, and PowerShell modules — nearly 40 GitHub repositories, 4 deployment packages, 6 PowerShell modules, and nearly 60 NuGet packages. This is only relevant insofar as it is to be understood that currently the XslCompiledTransform-wrapping API, though rooted in Be.Stateless.BizTalk.Xml, is also spread across the following other repositories and NuGet packages:

• Be.Stateless.BizTalk.Stream, which sits on top of Be.Stateless.BizTalk.Xml to deliver all these features through a streaming API, see Transformer;

• Be.Stateless.BizTalk.Pipeline.MicroComponents, whose XsltRunner component consumes the latter streaming API;

• Be.Stateless.BizTalk.XLang, whose TransformHelper ensures that composite XSLT stylesheets are supported while the MessageContext pseudo extension object is not;

• Be.Stateless.BizTalk.Transforms, and specifically the Be.Stateless.BizTalk.Transform.Unit NuGet package, which provides extended XSLT stylesheet debugging support, see Debugging Composite Microsoft BizTalk Server® Maps with Extension Objects.

Accessing Message Context through XSLT

Accessing the context of the current message through XSLT requires that a different MessageContext pseudo extension object be injected into the XSLT with each message. And that is why the MessageContext is a pseudo extension object, because it is a mediator between the XSLT and the actual context of the message being transformed. Injecting the right pseudo extension object is the responsibility of the Transformer class.

As the dummy CompoundContextMapTransform illustrates, reading properties from the context of a message can be written in XSLT as simply as ctx:Read('bf:EnvironmentTag') where ctx and Read denote the pseudo extension object and its operation, and bf and EnvironmentTag the property schema —whose namespace has to be declared by the XSLT— and the property to get access to.

Developer Help

Detailed developer help has been provided as XML comments directly embedded in source code. Though developers usually browse through this documentation while developing thanks to, for instance, JetBrains ReSharper quick help —ctrl+shift+F1, an online version of this inlined help has also been provided here for greater reachability: