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RE: Calling a SOAP Web service w/HTTPAPI
Mike, thanks for taking the time to provide the detailed information below.
Very helpful. Yes, I knew nothing about SoapUI but I've since worked
through the examples and found it very useful. However, In the past, I have
successfully connected to a number of web services via iSeries RPG and using
Scott's articles as a reference.
>>one thing I've wondered about and maybe you can help answer this
question...how come people ask for help about how to write a particular
program but don't produce the necessary documentation to all that to be
written?
In my case, all I really wanted to know was how (if) the RPG differs when
calling a web service when there is a parameter specified in the URL of the
web service. I had tried to connect to the service using my usual ways and
it wasn't working. I provided a fictitious url in my question to this site
since we paid a fair amount of money to have access to these web services
and I didn't think it wise to put the web service names on the public
internet. I had hoped to receive a snip of code showing what changes might
be needed because of a parameter in the URL. I didn't expect someone to try
to connect to the fictitious service. After Scott couldn't connect to the
"real" url, my problem is likely with the web service documentation I've
received. I've since asked for an updated version plus the location of the
wsdl.
Once again, thanks for the information and your patience.
-Tom
-----Original Message-----
From: ftpapi-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ftpapi-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mike Krebs
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 10:23 AM
To: HTTPAPI and FTPAPI Projects
Subject: RE: Calling a SOAP Web service w/HTTPAPI
Tom,
I hope you haven't given up...web services running on the IBM i are pretty
cool!
It would appear your knowledge base is relatively low and you are looking
for the quick way through. Unfortunately, unless your web service fits one
of the examples exactly, you will have to learn about xml and HTTPAPI.
Fortunately, this is pretty easy. Scott's article will get you up to speed
fairly quickly.
In addition, there are a ton of resources that talk about xml on the web. In
10 minutes you can breeze through http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp
and get a grasp on xml.
You are using a web service from a provider. They most likely have a
"public" definition of the service available inside a WSDL document. This is
the document SOAPUI is looking for. The learning curve on SOAPUI is less
than 20 minutes to find the "well formed xml" (you don't need all the
functions in SOAPUI).
One thing I've wondered about and maybe you can help answer this
question...how come people ask for help about how to write a particular
program but don't produce the necessary documentation to allow that to be
written? Or maybe you were asking for instructions on how to use EXAMPLE18
and not particular code?
The "what is this code doing" part of HTTPAPI takes some getting used to. It
isn't hard to understand once you figure it out, but getting there can be
challenging.
EXAMPLE18 is the currency converter example? The soap message obviously
needs changes. The "xmlns:tns" is specific to the web service. All the
elements with "tns" are specific to the service. This is where SOAPUI really
helps. It will build the XML for you with correct elements.
The http_url_post_xml will post the SOAP to the URL listed. So, change the
first parameter to point to your web service. Leave the next two parameters
(SOAP and SOAP length). The next parameter is passed as a *NULL. You can
probably do the same. The next parameter refers to the Incoming procedure
that is in EXAMPLE18. Once HTTPAPI receives the XML, it will read through
the XML and "call Incoming" for each element it encounters (specifically it
will call it when it sees the /element). When Incoming sees the element
called "ConversionRateResult", it converts what it finds in "value" to rate
using the C (Unix) function atof. The parameters to Incoming are set and
mostly do not need to be changed. For the most part, you can just add
additional checks to incoming to pull out the values you need. There is a
technique to this however. Notice "rate" is declared in the main program and
its address is passed to the procedure. Also note that rate is declared on
the PI as 8F (Scott's GE!
OIP example shows a string being passed). From the various examples of
parsing the XML, you will see that variously passed as strings and numbers.
You will have to decide what fits your service or if you have to retrieve
multiple values. If you have to return multiple, you will build a data
structure and pass that instead of a discrete value.
Just so you know...Thomas Raddatz has an utility to take a WSDL and generate
a stub module or program for you. Again, a little learning curve but
assuming you have access to WSDL, you can generate a complete module/program
in short order. It can be downloaded here:
http://www.tools400.de/English/Freeware/WSDL2RPG/wsdl2rpg.html Look in the
FAQ folder for quick start instructions under "How to create a Test
Program".
Good luck. Ask questions...most are answered by Scott or someone else on the
list.
Mike
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