BizTalk and the Suspended Queue

The BizTalk suspended queue is a frequent target of administrators who need to closely monitor its activity. Constantly checking it, though, can be a tedious manual process. It is therefore often desirable to be notified upon the arrival of messages in this queue. To accommodate this requirement, BizTalk Utilities conveniently supplies a notification mechanism, specifically designed to work with BizTalk Server’s suspended queue.

How it works

Upon the arrival of a document in the BizTalk suspended queue, BizTalk Utilities generates and sends an e-mail message via SMTP. 

BizTalk Utilities automatically collects relevant information regarding the document, and packages this into the notification message. For example, each message contains source and destination parameters, a reason code and description, plus a copy of the event log text that is created automatically by BizTalk upon the arrival of the document.

Using the Suspended Queue Wizard, a series of configuration parameters can be set-up to customize the notification message process, as well as the notification message itself. In addition to the standard e-mail header settings (the From, To, and CC addresses), an XSLT style sheet can be associated with the message to allow for dynamic transformation.

Below are some sample dialog boxes from the Suspended Queue Wizard:

Summary

Being automatically notified of activity in the BizTalk suspended queue can greatly improve the ease at which this part of the BizTalk Server environment is monitored and maintained. This feature is just another example of how BizTalk Utilities increases the functionality of BizTalk solutions, while reducing the cost of administration.

To learn more about these and other features, download an evaluation copy of BizTalk Utilities.