Instance Message Processing Using Distinguished Fields

Promoting properties by using the Distinguished Field mechanism does not require the creation of a property schema. As with all property promotion, you use the Promote Properties dialog box, which is accessible by using the Promote Properties property of the Schema node in message schemas, or by using the Promote | Show Promotions command on the BizTalk or shortcut menus.

In the Promote Properties dialog box, ensure the Distinguished Fields tab is selected in the right side of the dialog box. Then you expand the nodes in the schema tree on the left side of the dialog box to find and select the Field Element node or Field Attribute node that you want to promote as a distinguished field, and then click Add. For step-by-step instructions about promoting properties to Distinguished Fields using the Promote Properties dialog, see Copying Data to the Message Context as Distinguished Fields.

To remove a node from the set of properties being promoted as distinguished fields, select the promoted property on the Distinguished Fields tab, and click Remove.

When you promote properties by using the distinguished field mechanism, an XML Schema definition (XSD) language fragment is added within the annotation subelement of the root element. In the following example, the fragment shows two properties promoted by using the distinguished field mechanism.

<b:properties>  
    <b:property distinguished="true"  
        xpath="/*[local-name()='Record' and namespace-  
         uri()='http://BizTalk_Server_Project1.Schema11']/*[local-  
         name()='test']/*[local-name()='Field1']" />  
    <b:property distinguished="true"  
        xpath="/*[local-name()='Record' and namespace-  
         uri()='http://BizTalk_Server_Project1.Schema11']/*[local-  
         name()='test']/*[local-name()='Field5' and position()='1']" />  
</b:properties>  

See Also

Ways to Use Message Content to Control Message Processing
How to Copy Data to the Message Context as Distinguished Fields