A Better Rules Engine for BizTalk

Last night I (along with my colleague Dave Birchall) had the privilege of presenting at Microsoft Australia to the BizTalk Users Group (thanks Mick Badran!).

Our topic centred around the InRule business rules engine and business rules management system - and how it might work with Microsoft BizTalk Server. As many of you in the world of BizTalk might know from experience, the BRE supplied can be quite limiting and inefficient to work with.

So how do you go about using InRule to supplant the BRE?

Quite simply really. You have 2 main options to call InRule from the BRE:

1. Utilise the supplied irAdapter that comes with the InRule irServer installation


2. Call a static .NET method from an Expression Shape in a BizTalk orchestration - which in turn calls upon the InRule runtime libraries to apply rules to the data you pass.

InRule can supply much greater flexibility and capabilities beyond what the BRE was designed or intended for. You may find the BRE is suitable for your needs, but as soon as you go beyond simple IF ... THEN statements, you might want to have a look at a 30 day trial of InRule to see if it is appropriate.

In the coming weeks I will also put together a video on InRule with BizTalk including a demonstration on how to phyiscally connect BizTalk to InRule. So stay tuned!

FYI: If you missed last nights demonstration I can arrange for you to view a copy online. Just drop me a comment below and I will get in contact with you.