A business processes is typically long running, and has any number of messages that act like a subscription list. Business process instance identifiers are instantiated from attributes that exist in messages. As a result, the runtime engine requires a correlation mechanism for all messages to ensure that instances of various message types can be routed to the correct instance of the business process.

In a business process service a correlation set binds sections of the business process that process asynchronously. For example, if a business process receives two messages, a correlation set can be used to ensure that the second message received is processed by a specific instance of the business process service that was instantiated by the original message. Correlation sets define a collection of properties that are then bound to individual pieces of data within a message. All the data for the properties defined in the initial message will match all of the data for the properties defined in a subsequent message for a properly correlated message.

Related Tasks

Defining a Correlation Set in a Business Process Service