Change in scripting function boolean parameter behavior

  • Article

This article helps you resolve the problem where the behavior of boolean param within a scripting function has changed.

Original product version:   BizTalk Server 2013 Branch, BizTalk Server 2013 Developer, BizTalk Server 2013 Enterprise, BizTalk Server 2013 Standard
Original KB number:   2887564

Symptoms

In BizTalk Server 2013, the behavior of boolean parameters within scripting functions in BizTalk Maps has changed.

For example, consider the following code within a scripting function:

public int AddIfTrue(int param1, int param2, bool addNum)
{
    if (addNum)
    return param1+param2;
    else return param1;
}

  • In BizTalk Server 2013, the behavior is as follows:

    • If addNum is true, false, or any other value the output is param1+param2.
    • If addNum is empty, the output is param1.

  • In prior versions of BizTalk, the behavior was as follows:

    • If addNum is false the output is param1.
    • If addNum is true, the output is param1+param2.
    • If addNum is empty or any other value the function fails with error String was not recognized as a valid Boolean.

Cause

Starting with BizTalk Server 2013, the BizTalk Transform Engine uses the .NET XSLCompiledTransform class rather than the older XSLTransform class due to the many performance benefits.

The Boolean parameter behavior in XSLCompiledTransform class is different from XSLTransform class. This new behavior is documented here: boolean Function.

Resolution

In order to revert to the previous behavior, the scripting function code can be modified to take a String parameter instead of Boolean and then convert the String to Boolean within the function code as follows:

public int AddIfTrue(int param1, int param2, string addNum)
{
    bool addNumBool = System.Convert.ToBoolean(addNum);
    if (addNumBool)
    return param1+param2;
    else return param1;
}

More information

It is also possible to configure the BizTalk 2013 Transform Engine to use the older XSLTransform class. This approach is not recommended since the environment will lose the many performance and memory usage improvements provided by the XSLCompiledTransform class. This change can be made by adding DWORD UseXslTransform with value 1 at the following locations:

  • For 64-bit BizTalk host instances: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\BizTalk Server\3.0\Configuration
  • For 32-bit BizTalk host instances and Visual Studio's Test Map functionality: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\BizTalk Server\3.0\Configuration