1. Developing SOA Applications with Oracle SOA Suite
  2. Using the BPEL Process Service Component
  3. Invoking an Asynchronous Web Service from a BPEL Process
  4. Invoking an Asynchronous Web Service
  5. How to Invoke an Asynchronous Web Service
  6. Adding an Invoke Activity

Adding an Invoke Activity

Follow these instructions to create an invoke activity and a global input variable named request. This activity initiates the asynchronous BPEL process service component activity with the loan application approver web service (United Loan). The loan application approver web service uses the request input variable to receive the loan request from the client.

To add an invoke activity:

  1. In the Components window, expand BPEL Constructs.
  2. Drag an Invoke activity to beneath the Receive activity.
  3. Go to the Structure window. While this example describes variable creation from the Structure window, you can also create variables by clicking the Add icons to the right of the Input and Output fields of the Invoke dialog.
  4. Right-click Variables and select Expand All Child Nodes.
  5. In the second Variables folder in the tree, right-click and select Create Variable.

    The Create Variable dialog appears.

  6. Enter the variable name and select Message Type from the options provided:

    • Type

      This option lets you select an XML schema simple type (for example, string, boolean, and so on).

    • Message Type

      This option enables you to select a WSDL message file definition of a partner link or of the project WSDL file of the current BPEL process service component (for example, a response message or a request message). You can specify variables associated with message types as input or output variables for invoke, receive, or reply activities.

      To display the message type, select the Message Type option, and then select its Browse icon to display the Type Chooser dialog. From here, expand the Message Types tree to make your selection. For this example, LoanServiceRequestMessage is selected.

    • Element

      This option lets you select an XML schema element of the project schema file or project WSDL file of the current BPEL process service component, or of a partner link.

  7. Click OK.
  8. Click the invoke activity to display its property fields in the Property Inspector or double-click the invoke activity to display the Invoke dialog.

    For information about editing activities in the Property Inspector, see How to Edit BPEL Activities in the Property Inspector.

  9. In the Invoke dialog, select the partner link from the Partner Link list (for this example, LoanService is selected) and initiate from the Operation list.
  10. To the right of the Input field, click the second icon and select the input variable you created in Step 6.

    The Variable Chooser dialog appears, where you can select the variable.

    There is no output variable specified because the output variable is returned in the receive operation. The invoke activity is created.

    For more information about the invoke activity, see Invoke and Receive Activities.

  11. Click OK.