EntireX Version 9.7
 —  EntireX Web Services Wrapper for Natural  —

Using Web Services Wrapper for Natural

The Web Services Wrapper for Natural allows you allows you to generate Web services from Natural subprograms in a NaturalONE project in Eclipse. The generated Web service objects, which are WS-Stack Web service archives (file extension .aar) can be deployed in a Web Services Stack runtime, registered in CentraSite and tested with the XML Tester. Web services client applications can then access these Web services that expose some business logic implemented by Natural server components.

This document describes the steps for generating a Web service using Web Services Wrapper for Natural. It covers the following topics:


Prerequisites

To use the Web Services Wrapper for Natural you need Software AG Designer with the NaturalONE and EntireX plug-ins installed.

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Step 1: Start the Web Services Wrapper for Natural

To start the Web Services Wrapper for Natural, select a Natural subprogram (file extension .NSN) located in a library of a NaturalONE project, and from the context menu choose Generate Web Service.... Alternatively you can start the Web Services Wrapper for Natural from the context menu of the Natural source folder or any parent folder in the project, including the Natural library and the Project folder.

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Step 2: Select the Natural Library (Optional)

If you have started the wizard from a folder containing multiple Natural libraries, the wizard displays a page showing all available libraries from which you can select one.

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Select the Natural library from the list and continue with Step 3: Select the Natural Subprograms.

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Step 3: Select the Natural Subprograms

The following wizard page provides a list of available Natural subprograms.

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In the Source pane, select at least one program from the list of Natural subprograms (CALLNATs). You can also choose Select All or Deselect All.

In the Extraction Settings pane, check Redesign the interfaces if you want to design the extracted interfaces to the Natural subprograms. The Next button will be enabled. See Step 4: Redesign the Interface for Natural Subprograms (Optional). If you do not check Redesign the interfaces, see Natural to IDL Mapping in the IDL Extractor for Natural documentation for default mappings.

Check Replace special characters in parameter names by underscore to substitute the special characters '$', '#', '&', '@', '/' by underscores. See also Extracting IDL Parameter Names.

Press Next to continue.

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Step 4: Redesign the Interface for Natural Subprograms (Optional)

In this step, you can redesign the interface. This includes:

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Use this page for the following tasks:

This page consists of the following main parts:

Tips:

Use the quick navigation or choose Next to continue. If multiple Natural subprograms have been selected in the Natural subprogram selection step, redesign the next interface. The amount of subprograms extracted so far is indicated by the fraction next to the title (current/total).

If multiple Natural subprograms have been selected in the Natural subprogram selection step, redesign the next interface. The number of subprograms extracted so far is indicated by the fraction next to the title (current/total).

If only one Natural subprogram has been selected or no further one has to be redesigned, continue with Step 5: Configure the Web Service Client.

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Step 5: Configure the Web Service Client

On the next wizard page you can specify the name of the Web service and service URL (which depends of course on where it is deployed) and whether to deploy the Web service in a WS-stack runtime and register it in a CentraSite instance. You can change the proposed default values according to your needs.

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Step 6: Deploy the Web Service

If you chose to deploy the Web service, a wizard page is displayed where you can select the target WS-stack instance for the deployment. In the workspace preferences (Window > Preferences > Software AG > WS-Stack > Deployment) you can define a list of additional WS-stack deployment targets. Select one of these targets.

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Note:
Deployment in WS-stack requires authentication. The default authentication credentials are preconfigured (user: admin, password: axis2). If the WS-stack installation was secured differently, contact you administrator for the current credentials. See also Deploying and Undeploying Web Service Archives in section Software AG Designer Plug-in of the Web Services Stack documentation.

If you chose to register the Web service in a CentraSite, additional Wizard pages will be displayed that guide you through the Web service registration process. See the WS-stack documentation, section Configuration > Eclipse Plug-in > Registering a Web Service Package in CentraSite for more information.

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Generation Result

When the wizard has finished successfully, you will see additional artifacts in your Eclipse project:

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For more information see the NaturalONE documentation.

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Preferences

Use the preference page for the IDL Extractor for Natural to manage the default values relevant for step Step 3: Select the Natural Subprograms. See Preferences.

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