Execute Stored Procedures to Act CRM in BizTalk

Stored procedures implement Act CRM actions that cannot be represented as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements. This article shows how to generate a schema for a stored procedure. You can use the schema to execute the stored procedure from a send port.

Add the Adapter to Your Project

Use the Add Adapter wizard to add the adapter to a BizTalk Server project in Visual Studio. The adapter will return metadata about the inputs of the stored procedure and its results. This metadata is needed to create the schema.

1. Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer and click Add -> Add Generated Items.
2. Select Add Adapter Metadata in the resulting dialog box.
3. In the resulting Add Adapter wizard, select the adapter from the list.
4. In the Port menu, leave the selection blank. Or, select a receive location or send port that has been configured to use the Act CRM Adapter.

5. On the Connection String page, enter authentication credentials and other connection properties if they were not already configured in the send port or the receive location.

   Below is a typical connection string:

   URL=https://myActCRMserver.com;User=myUser;Password=myPassword;ActDatabase=MyDB;

   The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Act! user credentials. In addition to the authentication values, see the following:

   • Connecting to Act! Premium

     In addition to the authentication values, the URL to Act! is also required; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/.

     Additionally, you must specify the ActDatabase you will connect to. This is found by going to the About Act! Premium menu of your account, at the top right of the page, in the ? menu. Use the Database Name in the window that appears.

   • Connecting to Act! Premium Cloud

     To connect to your Act! Premium Cloud account, you also need to specify the ActCloudName property. This property is found in the URL address of the Cloud account; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/ActCloudName/.

   Note that retrieving ActCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you set the CacheMetadata property to store the metadata locally.

Generate the Schema

After you enter connection properties in the Add Adapter wizard, the Schema wizard is displayed.

1. On the next page, Schema Information, select the Send Port that you have configured to use the Act CRM Adapter.
2. If you have configured the CData Act CRM Adapter in a solicit-response send port, disable the One-Way option.
3. In the Command Type menu, select Stored Procedure.
4. Select the stored procedure from the menu and enter the values for the input parameters.
5. Confirm the settings in the summary displayed by the wizard and click Finish to generate the schema.xsd file.

Processing Schemas

To use schemas in a simple BizTalk application, see the tutorial.