BizTalk MsgBoxViewer - download here the latest version of the tool
Version 10.14.6873
Download it : MsgBoxViewer10_14.zip
New features:
- Collect process can now be interrupted before the end and output report consistency will be maintained
- Profiles support - you can now keep your MBV settings (Global properties, Queries Custom Properties, Query Custom Rules) in different profiles and select at any time the profile you want
- When building a custom rule in MBV GUI , we can now update also the Topology report as a possible action to trigger when rule is fired
- When building a custom rule in MBV GUI, we can now launch a process with its own args as a possible action to trigger when rule is fired
- Topology Report is again simplified showing clearly attributes of entry in its own column
- Added 3 queries to get maps info and maps linked to send port and receive ports
- Added a query to retrieve Network adapters + ip address for each server
- Added a query to get Kerberos parameters from registry of each server and raise warning if PAC is turn on
- Added a DMV query to get SQL perf info on each SQL server
- Added a DMV query to get SQL connections on each SQL server
- Added query chedcking for BizTalk dbs on Mirrors (check my previous mail)
Fixes :
- Fixed a regression issue where Subscriptions query return always empty output
Version 10.13.6672
Download it : MsgBoxViewer10_13.zip
New Features:
- Collapse by default the Query Categories
- Update also Terminator cleanupscript XML file when orphaned caches are detected
- Added some additional rules in the Application event query
Fixes:
Fixed a regression issue where columns name are not anymore visible in "Perfmon counters" query
Version 10.13
Download it : MsgBoxViewer10_13.zip
As I’m a little bit obsessed by the MBV analyze report optimization, I added two major features in this version of MBV to speed up a little bit HTML Report analyze :
1) I changed my MBV engine to support now Query Categories
What are Query Categories ?
Until now MBV was showing only 3 list of queries maximum and their names were hard-coded in the tool :
- “Important Queries”
- “Optional Queries”
- “Custom Queries” if you have a MBVEXT… XML file in MBV folder
Now, since this version 10.13, you can have from 1 to N categories listed in MBV with any name you want !
Indeed, I had to change my Health Check engine that MBV uses to group queries by categories instead to have just a list of continuous queries
Each Query Category has :
- an Internal guid
- a Name
- a Type: “Important”, Optional”, “’Custom”
At startup, MBV load the categories of each query indeed from its embedded MBV Queries Repository XML and it creates a many tabs as it find categories
Each Important category has it name in bold.
For each categories found in a custom MBVEXTxxxx.XML file, MBV will create the corresponding tab in blue color to specify that it s a custom category
Each category name is present in the HTML report with also its category type.
Why Query Categories?
I noticed (and you too probably) that it was more more difficult to find quickly in the HTML a specific query report among all the numerous queries listed and that the 3 types of queries list we had before were not enough.
It made obvious for me that we need to add an additional level of indirection to better sort and group queries
What is the immediate consequence for MBV ?
As a concrete sample of this change, I changed a little bit my own MBV queries organization splitting them in 3 categories more explicit :
- “Important Queries” : grouping the same important queries then before
- “Advanced DTA and MgBox” grouping all the previous optional queries
- “Server Information“: grouping WMI ,REGISTRY,etc..queries
2) I improved the Topoplogy Report by allowing now to expand /collapse each category of this report.
It makes its analyze more easy and this feature is more consitent with the Summary Report which contains also collapsible categories
Version 10.12
Download it : MsgBoxViewer10_12.zip
Major new feature:
I Added a major feature in MBV GUI tool to add very easely your own custom rules and save them of course in MBV Settings.Xml file !
You can so run now MBV to monitor for example specific tables size in the MsgBox "Table size" query or specific counters in the "BizTalk Perfmon" query and raise you own warnings.
I'm going to write quicky a post explaining more in details this new big feature as it can allow you to use now MBV to monitor anything you want in returned query reports !
These are the steps below to try this feature in MBV GUI tool :
- Select a query in one list
- On the right pane showing its Properties and Rules, select the tab ”Rules”
- You will see buttons “Add a custom Rule” and “Edit or show a Rule” (you can not change native MBV rules !)
- To see a sample of native rule with its conditions, select the “Max 500 BizTalk Errors Events” last query, select a Rule and click on the button “Show Rule Details”
- When you add a custom rule, a dialog box allow you to create your own Rule, add your own conditions and your own entry in the Summary Report section
- Iin each condition created, you can then use a Macro like %VALUECOL5% in a condition to represent a value in the report at column 5 for the current row evaluated, or use macro %VALUECOL:<col name>% where col Name is a report column name.
- You can even use a macro like %GLOBALPROP_ROWCOUNT% or %GLOBALPROP_REPORTTITLE%
- Update then the Summary Report entry fields
- Click finally on “Update Rule” button to save the conditions and the Summary Report entry in the Rule
- And that’s it !
- The custom rule will appear then in blue specifying that it is a Custom Rule and will be proceeded each time after its query execution.
Minor new features:
- Changed the settings file name to be now MBVSettings.XML for both GUI and Console tools so this settings file can be reused quickly with or the other tool.
Version 10.11
Download it : MsgBoxViewer10_11.zip
Major new feature:
Version number is now 10.11 as I changed a little bit the MBV GUI interface to add now the possibility to unselect some “mandatory” queries :
Maybe this feature can surprise first if we consider these queries as mandatory but I found the need
to be able to select sometimes only few queries to have very quickly result of a report, like the jobs one, or MsgBox Integrity one,
or only send ports, etc..
That’s why I also changed the List name “Mandatory queries” to “Important Queries”
To be able to do that, there is now a global option in MBV named ”Can unselect some important queries” that you have to turn to “True”- it is “False” by default.
When you set it to True and display the Important Queries List, you will notice checkboxes in the list and you will be able so to
select /unselect the ones you want !
NOTE: By default, behaviour is same than before and no check boxes are visible in this first Queries list,
so by default this feature is invisible !
BE CAREFUL: Topology Report and Warnings Report can be impacted if you unselect some important queries as some optional queries need some
info returned by some important queries so you can have some errors or incomplete Topology and Warning reports depending of which important queries you have unselected
Minor new features:
- Report now a warning if Job Last Run Date & Last Run Time is tool old (>2 days or >1 hour) for critical jobs
- Get Pipeline "FullQualifiedName" in Receive locations, send ports, and Pipelines
- Change LMT and LMFS Queries to target a multiple SQL Servers configuration like DTA, MsgBox, or Mgmt located on different servers
- Change Status Port to reflect exactly the one we have in the Admin console
- Report now the last 50 rows in TDDS_FailedTrackingData tables of DTA and BAM Db
- Report now contain of TDDS_StreamStatus tables of both DTA and BAM Db
- Include "Application" field in Send poirts and Receive Locations Query Reports
