The Route Picker
New 7.12
An Integration Article documents the BizTalk routes you say belong together. The route picker is where you choose them, for a new Article (Define an Integration Article) or for one that already exists (Edit the routes of ‹Article›). It is part of Generate Articles from BizTalk, and like the rest of it, it reads the BizTalk management database and uses no AI.
Where It Opens
- New Integration Article... on the wizard's Articles step
- The edit button of an Integration Article row on the Articles step, and Edit its routes in the picker itself
- Edit selection... on a generated Integration Article and in the Articles list
- Edit BizTalk routes on an Integration, and Document the integration on an Endpoint; see Document from the Repository
Find and Tick the Routes
- Scope: the picker searches the routes of the whole BizTalk group of the Log Agent, never only the applications picked for diagrams. The search term matches the subscriber name, receive port, filter property and value, message type, map name, and address.
- Facets: each with counts; the Integration Key facet comes first. Its heading holds the pattern in an editable box. Changing it applies to this Article only (This Article uses its own pattern); reset restores the run's pattern. Every Integration Article records the pattern its key was found with, so an Article generated with an older pattern keeps it until you reset it.
- Your applications: when the run has applications for diagrams, the picker names them above the filter bar, lists them first in the Application facet with a selected badge, and offers Only routes of my applications (off by default).
- Status: the column, badge, facet, and sort show the state BizTalk holds for the subscriber: Bound (not enlisted), Stopped (enlisted), or Started, and Unenlisted for an orchestration. A send port group shows its own state, not that of its send ports. The status helps you choose; the Article never records it.
- Selection: tick a route's checkbox, or the header checkbox to select every route on the page. Ticked routes stay selected across pages, searches, and facets. To take a whole match, narrow it with facets and tick the header on each page.
The group isn't enlisted in BizTalk, so it reads Bound, whatever the state of its two send ports.
Two badges on a route tell you where else it is documented:
| Badge | Means | Tooltip |
|---|---|---|
| documented | An Article already saved in Nodinite documents the route | Names that Article and points to Edit its routes in the panel |
| also in this run | Another Integration Article of the same wizard run holds the route | Names that Article, for example Also in INT001: Bad Filter on Send Port, defined in this run. Ticking it here documents the route in both Articles. |
A route may be in more than one Article; ticking it documents it in each.
The tooltip names the other Article of the run that holds the route.
Define a New Integration Article
The panel on the right, The new Article, holds the Title, the Document Profile, the run size, and the Ticked routes. Only Integration Article profiles are offered, with the shipped BizTalk Integration profile first.
The route picker. The Integration Key facet comes first; the panel on the right holds the new Article's title, profile, and ticked routes.
- Title suggestion: when the ticked routes carry an Integration Key, an empty Title is filled with the key and the first ticked route's name, such as INT001: Send Order. A hint says it is a suggestion (Suggested from the Integration Key and the first ticked route; name the integration the way your team does.) and disappears when you change the title. Routes without a key leave the Title empty, because a port name is not the name of an integration; the placeholder suggests one, e.g. INT0042: Orders to ERP. A title you typed is never replaced.
- New or existing: a new title is marked New. A new Article can't take the title of an existing one; when you type such a title, the Title box says so and offers Edit its routes instead. Titles that differ only in case, spaces, or punctuation are the same Article: INT001: Orders to ERP, int001 orders-to-erp, and INT001_Orders_To_ERP are one title. A title that another Article of this run already has is in use too. Then the Title box names that Article, without Edit its routes: give this Article another title, or edit that row on the Articles step.
The suggestion is the Integration Key and the first ticked route's name.
The run already has INT001: Orders to ERP, and this title differs only in case, spaces, and punctuation, so it is the same Article and Create is disabled.
Already documented: when ticked routes are already documented, a box under Ticked routes says how many existing Articles document them, for example 1 existing Article documents ticked routes. Each Article says how much it covers, such as documents 3 of the 4 ticked routes, and has three buttons:
- Edit its routes switches the picker to Edit the routes of that Article.
- Open opens the Article.
- Refresh from BizTalk rewrites its generated sections, and reports Up to date: no change in BizTalk. or what it updated.
Create Integration Article always makes a new, separate Article: to change what an existing Article documents, use Edit its routes.
Ticked routes that an existing Article already documents. Edit its routes changes that Article instead of creating a new one.
- Why Create is disabled: next to the disabled Create Integration Article button, the picker says what is missing: Tick at least one route. when nothing is ticked, Give the Article a title. when the Title is empty, An Article is already called ‹title›: edit its routes, or give this Article another title., This run already has an Article called ‹title›: give this Article another title., or that the run limit (BizTalkArticleGenerationMaxPerRun) is reached. While it checks the title, it says Checking whether an Article already has this title.
The ticked route has no Integration Key, so no title is suggested; the reason at the bottom left tells you what to fix.
Edit the Routes of an Existing Article
When BizTalk gets a new route for an integration, for example a second send port, add it to the existing Article. Open the picker on that Article with Edit BizTalk routes on its Integration, Edit selection... on the Article, the edit button of its row on the Articles step, or Edit its routes in the picker. The title reads Edit the routes of ‹Article›, and the panel on the right is The existing Article:
- The title is locked and marked Updates existing: a document is known by the title it was generated with. Rename the Article itself on its edit page.
- The routes the Article holds are ticked and marked in it; routes you tick are marked added, and routes you untick are listed as removed.
- A line sums up what Update will do, for example Editing the routes of ‹Article› · Update adds 1 route. or Update keeps its 3 routes and regenerates it.
- Update Integration Article saves the ticked routes as the routes the Article documents, and regenerates it.
Adding a route to an existing Article: the new route is marked added.
If the new route is a separate integration, click New Article instead and give it its own title; Create Integration Article then writes a second Article.
Opened from an Endpoint whose route is already documented: the picker goes straight to Edit the routes of that Article.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is no title suggested?
None of the ticked routes has an Integration Key. Type the integration's name, the way your team names integrations. To get suggestions, change the Integration Key pattern so it finds the number in your port names.
Why does an Article show a different Integration Key pattern than the run?
Every Integration Article keeps the pattern its key was found with. An Article generated with an older default shows that pattern in the facet, with This Article uses its own pattern. Click reset next to the pattern to use the run's pattern for this Article.