Sending and Receiving Messages in Biztalk: Adapters

Because the BizTalk Server 2004 engine must talk to a wide range of other software, it relies on a range of adapters to make this possible. An adapter is an implementation of a communication mechanism, such as a particular protocol.
· SOAP adapter. Enables sending and receiving messages by using SOAP over HTTP. Because SOAP is the core protocol for Web services, this adapter gives BizTalk Server 2004 the ability to interact in a Web services world. As usual with Web services, URLs are used to identify the sending and receiving systems.
·BizTalk Message Queuing adapter. Enables sending and receiving messages by using BizTalk Message Queuing (MSMQT). BizTalk Message Queuing is an implementation of the Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) protocol that can receive and send MSMQ messages from and to the MessageBox database. It is not a replacement for MSMQ, but rather an efficient way to use the MSMQ transport with BizTalk Server.
· File adapter. Enables reading from and writing to files in the Windows file system. Because the applications involved in a business process can often access the same file system, either locally or across a network, exchanging messages through files can be a convenient option.
· HTTP adapter. Enables sending and receiving information by using HTTP. The BizTalk Server 2004 engine exposes one or more URLs to allow other applications to send data to it, and it can use this adapter to send data to other URLs.
· SMTP adapter. Enables sending messages by using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Standard e-mail addresses are used to identify the parties.
· SQL adapter. Enables reading and writing information from and to a SQL Server database.
· Base EDI adapter. Enables sending and receiving messages by using the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X-12 and Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce, and Trade (EDIFACT) standards.
· FTP adapter. Enables exchange of files between BizTalk and FTP servers.