The Excel BAM Add-On makes creating BAM Definition a snap.  For example: clustering the various Sent Delivery (SentEmail, SentHttp, SentFTP..etc.) milestones into a “SentGroup” so it can be used to create a duration “SentDuration” and then perhaps a measure “AverageSentDuration”.

However, it can be quite arduous if not down right impossible when it comes time to refactor a BAM definition.

In the above scenario, the milestone group “SentGroup” cannot be modified once created. To do something as trivial as adding a new milestone “SentSoap” to the “SentGroup”, one must undo the whole chain of definitions that references “SentGroup”. First, the user must delete the “AverageSentDuration” measure. Second, delete the “SentDuration” duration. Third, delete the “SentGroup”, and then finally recreate the “SentGroup” with the new milestone.

Fortunately, renaming a milestone alias is more straight-forward as the BAM Add-on will propagate the changes automatically. However, one must be careful not to delete a milestone alias in the Edit BAM View screen:

BAM Excel Add-On Edit View Screen

 

Otherwise you may encounter the following error when trying to [Save] or [Export XML]:

This XML does not conform to the BizTalk Server 2006 Bam Definition Schema.


You may rename the milestone alias but not delete them. Keep in mind that the BAM Add-on tool doesn't always prevent the user from doing actions that may affect the schema integrity.  When in doubt, try to save the file. If you encounter this error, you've corrupted the definition. At this point you will have to quit Excel and restart the editing process from the last good version.


"When in doubt, save often!"