FIX: The BizTalk Accelerator for HL7 sends an acknowledgement message to the source system after a long delay (893404)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft BizTalk Server Accelerator for HL7

SYMPTOMS

When you use the Microsoft BizTalk Accelerator for HL7 1.0 (BTAHL7), you may experience the following symptom. The BizTalk Accelerator for HL7 sends an acknowledgement message (ACK) to the source system after a long delay. You expect the BizTalk Accelerator for HL7 to immediately send the acknowledgement message to the source system.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:
  • The message that the Health Level 7 (HL7) connection acknowledges is forwarded to one or more computers.
  • The BTAHL7 Minimal Lower Layer Protocol (MLLP) transport is used both to send and to receive the message that the HL7 connection acknowledges.

RESOLUTION

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next version of the BizTalk Accelerator for HL7 that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required to install this hotfix.

Restart requirement

This hotfix updates the Minimal Lower Layer Protocol (MLLP) assembly. Therefore, you must restart your computer to apply the changes after you install this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.
Date         Time   Version            Size    File name
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
03-Mar-2005  03:33  1.0.309.0          94,208  Microsoft.solutions.btahl7.mllp.dll
Note Because of file dependencies, the most recent hotfix that contains these files may also contain additional files.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, follow these steps.

Important This workaround is a temporary workaround. This workaround is not a permanent solution. We have not tested this workaround exhaustively. Additionally, this workaround could cause the acknowledged HL7 messages to be resent.
  1. Create a new In-Process BizTalk host type by using the BizTalk Administration Console Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in.
  2. Right-click the new host that you created, point to New, and then click Instance.
  3. Configure the instance in the Add Host Instances dialog box, and then click OK.
  4. In the left pane of the BizTalk Administration Console MMC snap-in, expand Adapters. Expand MLLP, and then click Send Handlers.
  5. In the right pane, right-click the send handler. Then, click Properties.
  6. Configure the MLLP send handler to use the new BizTalk Server host that you created.
  7. Restart the BizTalk Server hosts.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

MORE INFORMATION

In the following scenario, the request-response receive port delays sending its acknowledgement message to the source system when a destination system does not return an acknowledgement message:
  • The Minimal Lower Layer Protocol transport is used to send, to receive, and to acknowledge HL7 messages.
  • BizTalk Explorer is configured to receive and to acknowledge HL7 messages through a request-response receive port.
  • BizTalk Explorer is configured to forward HL7 messages to a destination system through a static one-way send port.
  • The BTAHL7 TwoWayAckReceiveLocation receive location is enabled to handle HL7 acknowledgement messages from destination systems.
This delay is approximately equal to the MLLP time-out value of the MLLP static one-way send port.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/5/2005
Keywords:kbBTSAccelerators kbbug kbfix KB893404 kbAudDeveloper
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