The Transmission Control Console (TCC) is a customized stand-alone .NET application for monitoring and controlling the transmission of files by BizTalk. These files include EDI (flat or CSV) files and XML documents send between external trading partners and internal line-of-business applications. The TCC is customized for each company's BizTalk system and individual requirements.

The TCC was developed by Simon Chadwick Consulting for use on various client engagements, and has been especially useful in situations with a large number of external trading partners. It is a .NET windows forms application that enables the monitoring of the BizTalk servers that support the customer's line-of-business applications. The TCC also allows ah-hoc and archived EDI and XML files to be submitted manually to the BizTalk servers.

As a self-updating "smart-client", the TCC auto-updates itself from a local central server, so once installed on customer desktop machines it never needs to be updated manually.

Main Features:

• The TCC can monitor multiple BizTalk servers. The window title bar tells you which BizTalk server you are monitoring.
• The "Communications" tab shows lists of received and transmitted files, filtered by optional search constraints. You can right-click a log entry to find the corresponding archived files (see below).
• The "Receive EDI" tab is for manually submitting an EDI file to BizTalk as if it had been received from a trading partner. The file can be edited before being submitted, and you can also just verify that an EDI file is syntactically correct.
• The "Transmit XML" tab enables the manual submission to BizTalk of an outbound XML file, as if it had been sent from a line-of-business application. The XML file can be edited and syntactically verified before being submitted.
• The "File Archives" tab allows browsing the EDI and XML file archives on the BizTalk server, optionally filtered by search constraints (EDI or XML, inbound or outbound, date, document type, or message ID). Two lists of archived files are displayed - the top one has the search results, and the bottom one shows the corresponding XML or EDI archived files for the selected files in the top list. You can right-click on a list entry to view, edit, or resubmit an archived file.
• The "Logs" tab shows the flight-recorder logs from the connected BizTalk server for the specified date. This tab will automatically poll the BizTalk server for new data in the logs. This feature is mainly intended for debugging and fault analysis purposes.

Here are some example views of the Transmission Control Console.

The Communications Tab:

Communication Failure:

Communications Reports:

Archived Inbound EDI Files:

Archived Outbound EDI Files:

Detailed Run-Time Log Views:

Manually Submitting an (Editable) Outbound XML Document:

For information about customizing the Transmission Control Console for your BizTalk system, please contact Simon Chadwick Consulting at simon@chadwickinfo.com.