26.6 Managing Legacy Web Services
Legacy Web services enable applications to interact with one another over the web in a platform-neutral, language independent environment.
Note:
The SOAP 1.1 specification is a W3C note. SOAP Version 1.2 specification is a W3C recommendation.
For information about Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) see:
http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP/
- About Legacy Web Services
Learn about legacy Web services. - Creating Legacy Web Service References
Learn about creating legacy Web service references. - About Working with SSL Enabled Legacy Web Services
Learn about working with SSL enabled legacy Web services. - Creating Legacy Web Service References Based on a WSDL
Learn about creating legacy Web service references based on a WSDL. - Creating Web Service References Manually
- Creating Legacy RESTful Web Service References
Learn how to create legacy RESTful Web service references. - Using the Legacy Web Service Reference Repository
Learn about the legacy Web Service Reference Repository. - Creating an Input Form and Report on a Legacy Web Service
Learn how to create an input form and report on a legacy Web service. - Creating a Form on a Legacy Web Service
Learn how to create a form on a legacy Web service. - Creating a Report on a Web Service
- How to Invoke a Legacy Web Service as a Process
Learn how to invoke a legacy Web service as a process. - Viewing a Legacy Web Service Reference History
View a history of Web service reference changes.
Parent topic: Managing Application Legacy Components
26.6.1 About Legacy Web Services
Learn about legacy Web services.
In a typical Web services scenario, a business application sends a request to a service at a given URL by using the protocol over HTTP. The service receives the request, processes it, and returns a response. You can incorporate calls with external Web services in applications developed in App Builder.
Web services are typically based on Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) or Representational State Transfer (REST) architectures. SOAP is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard protocol for sending and receiving requests and responses across the Internet. SOAP messages can be sent back and forth between a service provider and a service user in SOAP envelopes. RESTful Web services are resource oriented. The scope of the Web service is found in the URI and the method of the service is described by the HTTP method that is used such as GET, POST, PUT, HEAD, and DELETE.
SOAP offers two primary advantages:
- SOAP is based on XML, and therefore easy to use.
- SOAP messages are not blocked by firewalls because this protocol uses simple transport protocols, such as HTTP.
REST offers similar advantages:
- REST messages are also not blocked by firewalls because this protocol uses the HTTP protocol.
- REST requests do not require the overhead of XML and SOAP envelopes and inputs are typically provided in the URI.
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.2 Creating Legacy Web Service References
Learn about creating legacy Web service references.
Note:
Creating a legacy Web service reference is only supported for applications that already have them.To use Web services in APEX, you create a Web service reference using a wizard. Web service references can be based on a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) document, RESTful style, or created manually by supplying information about the service.
See Also:
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.2.1 Accessing the Web Service References Page
You manage Web service references on the Web Service References page.
To access the Web Service References page:
Parent topic: Creating Legacy Web Service References
26.6.2.2 Specifying an Application Proxy Server Address
If your environment requires a proxy server to access the Internet, you must either specify a proxy server address on the Application Attributes page, or your instance administrator must define an instance proxy, before you can create a Web service reference.
To specify a proxy address for an application:
Parent topic: Creating Legacy Web Service References
26.6.3 About Working with SSL Enabled Legacy Web Services
Learn about working with SSL enabled legacy Web services.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is an industry standard protocol that uses RSA public key cryptography with symmetric key cryptography to provide authentication, encryption, and data integrity.
If the Web service that you need to interact with is SSL-enabled (that is, https
displays in the URL to the Web service), you must create a wallet and configure APEX to use the wallet. A wallet is a password-protected container that stores authentication and signing credentials (including private keys, certificates, and trusted certificates) needed by SSL.
See Also:
Configuring Wallet Information in Oracle APEX Administration Guide
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.4 Creating Legacy Web Service References Based on a WSDL
Learn about creating legacy Web service references based on a WSDL.
You can create Web service reference based on a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) document.
- About Creating Web Service References Based on a WSDL
- Creating a Web Service Reference by Specifying a WSDL Document
- Testing a Web Service Reference Created from a WSDL
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.4.1 About Creating Web Service References Based on a WSDL
Before you create a Web service reference based on a WSDL, you must decide how to locate the WSDL. You locate a WSDL by entering the URL to the WSDL document.
You then run a wizard which analyzes the WSDL and collects all the necessary information to create a valid SOAP message, including:
-
The URL used to post the SOAP request over HTTP(S)
-
A Universal Resource Identifier (URI) identifying the SOAP HTTP request
-
Operations of the Web Service
-
Input parameters for each operation
-
Output parameters for each operation
Parent topic: Creating Legacy Web Service References Based on a WSDL
26.6.4.2 Creating a Web Service Reference by Specifying a WSDL Document
To create a Web service by specifying a URL to a specific WSDL document:
Parent topic: Creating Legacy Web Service References Based on a WSDL
26.6.4.3 Testing a Web Service Reference Created from a WSDL
After you have created a Web service reference, you can test it on the Test Web Service Reference page.
To test a Web service reference:
Parent topic: Creating Legacy Web Service References Based on a WSDL
26.6.5 Creating Web Service References Manually
You can create a Web service reference manually.
- About Creating Web Service References Manually
- Creating a Web Service Reference Manually
- Testing a Web Service Reference Created Manually
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.5.1 About Creating Web Service References Manually
When you create a Web service reference manually, you supply the necessary information to create a valid SOAP request, including:
-
The URL used to post the SOAP request over HTTP(S)
-
A Universal Resource Identifier (URI) identifying the SOAP HTTP request
-
The SOAP envelope for the request, including any item substitutions
-
Optionally the name of a collection to store the response from the Web service
Parent topic: Creating Web Service References Manually
26.6.5.2 Creating a Web Service Reference Manually
Creating a Web service reference manually adds it to Web Service References Repository.
To create a Web service reference manually:
- Navigate to the Web Service References page.
- On the Workspace home page, click App Builder.
- Select a existing application.
- On the Application home page, click Shared Components in the center of the page.
- Under Data Sources, select Legacy Web Service References.
- Click Create.
- Select Manual and click Next.
- On Create Web Service Reference:
Parent topic: Creating Web Service References Manually
26.6.5.3 Testing a Web Service Reference Created Manually
After you have created a Web service reference, you can test it on the Test Web Service Reference page.
To test a Web service reference:
Parent topic: Creating Web Service References Manually
26.6.6 Creating Legacy RESTful Web Service References
Learn how to create legacy RESTful Web service references.
You can create a Representational State Transfer (REST) or RESTful web service.
- About Creating RESTful Web Service References
- Creating a RESTful Web Service Reference
- Testing a REST Web Service Reference
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.6.1 About Creating RESTful Web Service References
RESTful Web services are resource oriented. The scope of the Web service is found in the URI and the method of the service is described by the HTTP method that is used such as GET, POST, PUT, HEAD, and DELETE. When you create a RESTful Web service reference, you supply the necessary information about the structure of the request and response including:
-
A Universal Resource Identifier (URI) identifying the RESTful request
-
The HTTP method identifying the method of the Web service
-
HTTP Headers, if required, that are part of the request
-
The type of input expected by the Web service
-
The format of the response and how to identify the response parameters
Parent topic: Creating Legacy RESTful Web Service References
26.6.6.2 Creating a RESTful Web Service Reference
To create a RESTful Web service reference:
The Create Web Service Reference Success page appears. The Web service reference is added to the Web Service References Repository.
See Also:
- Accessing the Web Service References Page
- Creating a Proxy Server for an Instance in Oracle APEX Administration Guide
Parent topic: Creating Legacy RESTful Web Service References
26.6.6.3 Testing a REST Web Service Reference
After you have created a Web service reference, you can test it on the Test Web Service Reference page.
To test a Web service reference:
Parent topic: Creating Legacy RESTful Web Service References
26.6.7 Using the Legacy Web Service Reference Repository
Learn about the legacy Web Service Reference Repository.
Web service references are stored in the Web Service Reference Repository.
To access the Web Service References Repository:
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.8 Creating an Input Form and Report on a Legacy Web Service
Learn how to create an input form and report on a legacy Web service.
- About the Create Form and Report on Web Service Wizard
- Creating a Form and Report by Adding a New Page
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.8.1 About the Create Form and Report on Web Service Wizard
The Create Form and Report on Web Service Wizard creates an input form, a submit button, and a report for displaying results. You can execute this wizard directly after creating the Web service reference from a WSDL or a RESTful style Web service, or by adding a page.
Use this wizard when you expect a nonscalar result from the Web service. The Amazon Product API Web service is a good example. This Web service returns many results based on the search criteria entered in an input form.
26.6.9 Creating a Form on a Legacy Web Service
Learn how to create a form on a legacy Web service.
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.9.1 About the Create Form on Web Service Wizard
The Create Form on Web Service Wizard creates a form and a submit button. You can execute this wizard after creating the Web service reference from a WSDL or on a RESTful style Web service, or by running the Create Page Wizard.
Use this wizard when you expect a scalar result from the Web service. A Web service that looks up a stock price is a good example because the input is a stock symbol and the output is the scalar value price.
Parent topic: Creating a Form on a Legacy Web Service
26.6.10 Creating a Report on a Web Service
If you have an existing Web service reference, you can create a report based on a Web service reference by adding a new page.
To create a report by adding a new page:
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.11 How to Invoke a Legacy Web Service as a Process
Learn how to invoke a legacy Web service as a process.
You can invoke a Web service as a process on the page. The process is created for you if you run one of the Create Form wizards for Web services. Running the process submits the request to the service provider. You can then display the request results in the report.
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services
26.6.11.2 Editing a Web Service Process
After you create a process of type Web service on a Web service reference created from a WSDL or a RESTful style Web reference, you can change the attributes of the input and output parameters to the service.
To edit a Web service process:
Parent topic: How to Invoke a Legacy Web Service as a Process
26.6.12 Viewing a Legacy Web Service Reference History
View a history of Web service reference changes.
The Web Services History displays changes to Web service references for the current application by application ID, Web service references name, developer, and date.
To view a history of Web service reference changes:
Note:
The History button only appears on the Web Service Reference page if at least one reference exists.
Parent topic: Managing Legacy Web Services