"The notification message type <MessageType> was unexpected." is logged by SSBEA and my app is never called

Question

I am running SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition with External Activator installed. I have the following code in an SSMS tab:

-- Begin a conversation and send a request message
DECLARE @InitDlgHandle UNIQUEIDENTIFIER;
DECLARE @RequestMsg NVARCHAR(100);

BEGIN TRANSACTION;
    BEGIN DIALOG @InitDlgHandle
        FROM SERVICE [//abc/XYZ/InitiatorPostService]
        TO SERVICE N'//abc/XYZ/TargetPostService'
        ON CONTRACT [//abc/XYZ/PostContract]
        WITH ENCRYPTION = OFF;

    SELECT @RequestMsg = N'<RequestMsg>Message for Target service.</RequestMsg>';

    SEND ON CONVERSATION @InitDlgHandle
        MESSAGE TYPE [//abc/XYZ/RequestPostMessage](@RequestMsg);

    SELECT @RequestMsg AS SentRequestMsg, @InitDlgHandle AS ConversationHandle;
COMMIT TRANSACTION;
GO

When I run it, I get the expected output in the results pane. In the EATrace.log, I get the error message "The notification message type //abc/XYZ/RequestPostMessage was unexpected."

-- Create message types
CREATE MESSAGE TYPE [//abc/XYZ/RequestPostMessage]  VALIDATION = WELL_FORMED_XML;
CREATE MESSAGE TYPE [//abc/XYZ/ReplyPostMessage]    VALIDATION = WELL_FORMED_XML;
GO

-- Create contract
CREATE CONTRACT [//abc/XYZ/PostContract]
     ([//abc/XYZ/RequestPostMessage] SENT BY INITIATOR,
     [//abc/XYZ/ReplyPostMessage] SENT BY TARGET
);
GO

-- Create target queue and service
CREATE QUEUE TargetPostQueue WITH RETENTION = ON;
CREATE SERVICE [//abc/XYZ/TargetPostService]
     ON QUEUE TargetPostQueue([//abc/XYZ/PostContract]);
GO

-- Create the initiator queue and service
CREATE QUEUE InitiatorPostQueue WITH RETENTION = ON;
CREATE SERVICE [//abc/XYZ/InitiatorPostService]
     ON QUEUE InitiatorPostQueue([//abc/xyz/PostContract]);
GO

-- Create a notification for External Activator
CREATE QUEUE NotificationPostQueue
CREATE SERVICE [//abc/xyz/NotificationPostService]
    ON QUEUE NotificationPostQueue([http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQL/Notifications/PostEventNotification])
CREATE EVENT NOTIFICATION EventQueueActivation
    ON QUEUE [TargetPostQueue]
    FOR QUEUE_ACTIVATION
    TO SERVICE '//abc/xyz/NotificationPostService', 'current_database';
GO

-- Security
GRANT CONNECT TO [**Company**\**Machine**$]                          -- allow CONNECT to the notification database
GRANT RECEIVE ON TargetPostQueue TO [**Company**\**Machine**$]       -- allow RECEIVE from the service queue
GRANT RECEIVE ON NotificationPostQueue TO [**Company**\**Machine**$] -- allow RECEIVE from the notifcation queue
GRANT REFERENCES ON SCHEMA::dbo TO [**Company**\**Machine**$]        -- allow REFRENCES right on the notification queue schema

-- allow VIEW DEFINITION on the target service
GRANT VIEW DEFINITION ON SERVICE::[//abc/xyz/TargetPostService] TO [**Company**\**Machine**$]

-- allow VIEW DEFINITION on the notification service
GRANT VIEW DEFINITION ON SERVICE::[//abc/xyz/NotificationPostService] TO [**Company**\**Machine**$]
GO

There is nothing in EAService.config that tells EA what message types to expect. Why am I getting this error instead of EA executing the application specified in its config file? Do I have the contract set up incorrectly?

** Newly added section below:**

Per Remus's suggestion, I added the following:

-- Create a notification for External Activator
CREATE QUEUE NotificationPostQueue

CREATE SERVICE [//abc/xyz/NotificationPostService]
    ON QUEUE NotificationPostQueue([http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQL/Notifications/PostEventNotification])

CREATE EVENT NOTIFICATION EventQueueActivation
    ON QUEUE [TargetPostQueue]
    FOR QUEUE_ACTIVATION
    TO SERVICE '//abc/xyz/NotificationPostService', 'current_database';
GO

But when I change the NotificationService name in the config file from "//abc/xyz/TargetPostService" to "//abc/xyz/NotificationPostService", I get the error "ERROR = 31, The notification service //abc/xyz/NotificationPostService does not exist" in the EATrace.log when I start the service. However, that service is listed in sys.services.

** Error 31 resolved, now the issue is that my app is not being called **

I used the sample app from the Service Broker Team Blog, adding logging for debug purposes. It writes a log file as soon as it is run, before doing anything else. I've tested it by running it from VS2010 and that works fine, but when I send a message using the code at the beginning of this question, no long is getting created. Therefore I know my app isn't run by EA. How can I diagnose why this is happening? The paths in my EAService.config file are correct. Here is the whole file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Activator xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/10/servicebroker/externalactivator"
           xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
           xsi:schemaLocation="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/10/servicebroker/externalactivator EAServiceConfig.xsd"
           >
  <NotificationServiceList>
    <NotificationService name="//abc/xyz/NotificationPostService" id="100" enabled="true">
      <Description>My test notification service</Description>
      <ConnectionString>
        <!-- All connection string parameters except User Id and Password should be specificed here -->
        <Unencrypted>server=**MyServer**\**MyInstance**;database=CompanyRehabManagement;Application Name=External Activator;Integrated Security=true;</Unencrypted>
      </ConnectionString>
    </NotificationService>
  </NotificationServiceList>
  <ApplicationServiceList>
    <ApplicationService name="Company.xyz.EAProcessor" enabled="true">
      <OnNotification>
        <ServerName>**MyServer**\**MyInstance**</ServerName>
        <DatabaseName>**MyDbName**</DatabaseName>
        <SchemaName>dbo</SchemaName>
        <QueueName>TargetPostQueue</QueueName>
      </OnNotification>
      <LaunchInfo>
        <ImagePath>C:\Project\Pathway\Source\Company.xyz\Company.xyz.EAProcessor\bin\Debug\Company.xyz.EAProcessor.exe</ImagePath>
        <CmdLineArgs> %sqlserver% %database% %schema% %queue% </CmdLineArgs>
        <WorkDir>C:\Project\Pathway\Source\Company.xyz\Company.xyz.EAProcessor</WorkDir>
      </LaunchInfo>
      <Concurrency min="1" max="1" />
    </ApplicationService>
  </ApplicationServiceList>
  <LogSettings>
    <LogFilter>
      <TraceFlag>All Levels</TraceFlag>
      <TraceFlag>All Modules</TraceFlag>
      <TraceFlag>All Entities</TraceFlag>
    </LogFilter>
  </LogSettings>
</Activator>

Am I using the correct QueueName? Are there any other possible errors in this file? What else can I do to diagnose this? This is the conversation that occurs:

conversation_id,                      is_initiator, conversation_handle,                  local_service,                  remote_service,                 service_contract,       state_desc, far_broker_instance,                  security_timestamp,      send_sequence, receive_sequence, end_dialog_sequence, system_sequence
411C6F74-B29F-4C47-A538-1B9C900F49BD, 1,            7E7DD27A-E102-E011-93D2-0004239AA238, //abc/xyz/InitiatorPostService, //abc/xyz/TargetPostService,    //abc/xyz/PostContract, CONVERSING, 083E1179-A1C3-4414-A1A6-67238E3879CE, 1900-01-01 00:00:00.000, 1,             0,                -1,                  0
411C6F74-B29F-4C47-A538-1B9C900F49BD, 0,            817DD27A-E102-E011-93D2-0004239AA238, //abc/xyz/TargetPostService,    //abc/xyz/InitiatorPostService, //abc/xyz/PostContract, CONVERSING, 083E1179-A1C3-4414-A1A6-67238E3879CE, 2010-12-08 16:10:59.260, 0,             1,                -1,                  0

Answer 1

When you create the event notification, you should use 'current database' (without the underscore) rather than 'current_database'. 'current database' is a special value, which will match whatever the broker ID of the current database is, whereas in your case the event notification tries to send a notification message to a service with broker ID = 'current_database'.