Entering Input for a Service
When you create a launch configuration for a service, run a service, or debug a service Designer displays a screen for specifying input values for the variables in the service’s input signature. Designer validates the input values you specify. If specified values do not match the input parameter data type, Designer displays a message to that effect.
Although you can specify input values for most input variables, you cannot specify input values for:
Document List variables that have no defined content
Object variables constrained as a byte [ ]
Unconstrained Objects (Objects of unknown type)
If the inputs to the service contain one of these variables for which you cannot specify input, to test the service create another service that generates the input values for the service. Then construct a test harness, which is a flow service that executes both the service that generates the test input values and the service you want to test. Finally, to test the service, execute the test harness.
To enter input values for a service
1. Do one of the following to display a window for providing inputs:
2. If you are working with a launch configuration, select the Input tab to display the screen you use to specify input.
Note: If you are running or debugging the service, Designer displays the Enter Input for serviceName dialog box that you use to specify input.
3. To load input values from a file, do one of the following:
If you want to use inputs that match the structure of the service input signature, on the
Input tab click
Load.
If you want the data structure of the input values in a file to overwrite the structure of the service input signature, click
Load and Replace.
4. Select or clear the Include empty values for String Types check box to indicate how to handle variables that have no value.
If you want to use an empty String (i.e., a String with a zero-length), select the
Include empty values for String Types check box. Also note that Document Lists that have defined elements will be part of the input, but they will be empty.
If you want to use a null value for the empty Strings, clear the check box. String-type variables will not included in the input document.
Note: The setting applies to all String-type variables in the root document of the input signature. The setting does not apply to String-type variables within Document Lists. You define how you want to handle String-type variables within Document Lists separately when you assign values to Document Lists variables. For more information, see
Specifying Values for a Document List
Variable.
5. Enter values for the input variables. For specific information for how to specify a value based on a variable’s data type, see one of the following:
For this type of variable... | See... |
String | |
String List | |
String Table | |
Document Document Reference | |
Document List Document Reference List | |
Object | |
Object List | |
6. To save the input values to a file for use in later debugging, click Save or Save Inputs. In the Save As dialog box, specify the name and location of the file to which you want the values saved. Click Save.