Configuration Parameters for SOAP Web Service Data Services

SOAP Web Service data services enable you to interact with web services by using Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). A web service is a platform-independent application that is hosted on a website. A SOAP implementation of web services provides a Web Services Description Language (WSDL), which is an XML-based language for defining an interface. A WSDL describes how a service can be called, what arguments can be used, and what type of data is expected to be returned.

The following panels and panes may be displayed when configuring a SOAP Web Service data service. There is no corresponding data source for a SOAP Web Service data service, but there is a corresponding xmlData business rule component.

Note: Whether the Is Parameter check boxes in a SOAP Web Service data service are selected or cleared has no impact. Disregard the Test Data Source panel.

Ribbon

Ribbon Commands

Icon	Command	Description
	New	Create a new object of a specific type.
	Open	Open an existing object.
	Save	Save the displayed object.
	Delete	Delete the displayed object.
	Undo Edits	Reverse the most recent action on an object.
	Redo	Reapply the previously undone action to an object.

File Menu

Command	Description
Close	Close the current object.
Close All	Close all objects that you have open.
Save	Save the object.
Save As	Save a copy of the object under a different name.
Delete	Delete the displayed object.

Home

Start and Stop Data Service

The Start Data Service and Stop Data Service functions control the availability of the data service to Designers and Data Providers.

Button	Command	Description
	Start Data Service	Make a data service available.
	Stop Data Service	Make a data service unavailable.

View

Properties Pane

The Properties pane allows you to describe the data service. It also displays the type of the data service and status information about the data service.

Option	Description
Service Name	The name for this data service.
Description	A description for this data service.
Data Service Type	The type of data service. JDBC Data Service JDBC Update Data Service File Data Service HTTP Data Service Link Data Service SOAP Web Service Data Service Serial Number Data Service
Configured Status	This property is not displayed until the data service has been saved for the first time. Started Stopped
Status	This property is not displayed until the data service has been saved for the first time. Service Up: The service is online. Service Down: The service is unreachable and possibly offline.
Creation Information	Created By: The user name of the creator of the data service. Created On: The date the data service was created. Modified By: The last user to change the data service Modified On: The date the data service was last changed.

Tags Pane

The Tag Values dialog box is available when viewing an object that supports tags. Click View > Tags to open the dialog box.

You can categorize an application, business rule, data service, device group, facility, field data catalog, form, image, integration, label template, layer object, layout, process, Remote Site, reusable object, user, or workflow template by assigning tags to it. Each tag has a category and a value. For a version-controlled object, tags cannot be changed in a previously checked-in version.

Button	Command	Description
	Assign Tag	Assign a tag to an object. The tag category must already exist.
	Delete Tag	Remove a tag that was assigned to an object.
	Edit Tag	Edit the tag Category and Value.

For more information about using tags, see Categorize a Data Service.

Service Management

If your Loftware Enterprise SP environment is configured to support distributed services, the Service Management dialog box allows you to configure failover of data services between Loftware Application Servers. These options are also available in System System Management > Service Management.

Important! Whenever you add a new device, data service, integration, or facility, you must ensure that the service is activated on all Loftware Application Servers on which it should be available to run and started on at least one. In an environment with only one Loftware Application Server, these types of services are automatically activated and started when they are created. For more information, see High Availability with Distributed Services.

Connection

The following options may be displayed in the Connection panel for a SOAP Web Service data service.

Parameter	Description
WSDL URL	The link to a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) that you can use to communicate with a web service. A WSDL is an XML-based language for defining an interface. A WSDL describes how a service can be called, what arguments can be used, and what type of data is expected to be returned.
Authentication Type	The authentication type for connecting to the web service. None: Do not require authentication. Basic: Require a user name and password to connect to the web service.
User Name	The user name of the credentials to use when connecting to the web service. Note: Available only if the Authentication Type is Basic.
Password	The password of the credentials to use when connecting to the web service. Note: Available only if the Authentication Type is Basic.

General

Parameter	Description
Envelope	The XML for the SOAP envelope element. This is the root element of a SOAP message and defines the XML document as a SOAP message.
Web Service Address	The link for connecting to a web service. In many cases, you can click Load From WSDL to automatically obtain the address from the WSDL. However, for some web services the WSDL provides only a testing address, and you must type in the production address.
Security Header	A security header that provides credentials for connecting to the web service. None: Do not include a security header, or else enter a security header that you created. User Name Token - Plaintext: A template for security header that is not encrypted is provided. You can customize the security header to meet the needs of the data service. User Name Token - Digest: A template for a security header that is encrypted is provided. You can customize the security header to meet the needs of the data service.
Result Name	The name of the XML Data business rule component to be used. The default name is WS_RESULT. For more information, see xmlData Business Rule Component.
Result Path	The path to the subset of data that you want returned from the web service. If the XPath Override check box is selected, this is the XPath expression of the subset of data that you want returned from the web service. For more information, see Example: Result Path and XPath Override.
XPath Override	Whether to define the subset of data that you want returned from the web service by the XPath expression entered in the Result Path field. For more information, see Example: Result Path and XPath Override.
HTTP Headers	The names and values that define the operating parameters of the HTTP transaction.
Remove Empty Results From Data Map	If the web service response contains a null or empty entry, whether to remove the result from the data map or include the result in the data map with an empty value.

Example: Result Path and XPath Override

If the configuration of the web service in Data Services contains the following values:

Result Path	/getCountryResponse/country
XPath Override

Result Path	/[local-name()='Envelope']/[local-name()='Body']/[local-name()='getCountryResponse']/[local-name()='country']
XPath Override

and the SOAP response from the web service is the following:

<SOAP-ENV:Envelope xmlns:SOAP-ENV="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">

<SOAP-ENV:Header/>

<SOAP-ENV:Body>

<ns2:getCountryResponse xmlns:ns2="http://spring.io/guides/gs-producing-web-service">

<ns2:country>

<ns2:name>Spain</ns2:name>

<ns2:population>46704314</ns2:population>

<ns2:capital>Madrid</ns2:capital>

<ns2:currency>EUR</ns2:currency>

</ns2:country>

</ns2:getCountryResponse>

</SOAP-ENV:Body>

</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>

Then the following data map entries result:

/Body/name/!TEXT! Spain

/Body/population/!TEXT! 46704314

/Body/capital/!TEXT! Madrid

/Body/currency/!TEXT! EUR

For more information about XPath, see "Scripting, Java, and XML" in External Links.