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Using the Web Service ConnectorLocate this document in the navigation structure

Use

Overview

The Web Service Connector, supplied by SAP, is an implementation of the SAP NetWeaver Portal connector framework API. It provides an ability to interact with any Web services, regardless of source, with the following advantages over connecting to Web services by other means:

  • As part of the portal connector framework, it uses the UME (user management engine) for authentication and user mapping.

  • Enables the use of automatic tools (such as the portal iView Wizard and Visual Composer) for the creation of iViews.

  • No offline proxy generation and deployment are required.

Technologies

The Web Service Connector uses the following standard technologies:

  • WSDL (Web Service Definition Language)

  • SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)

Connectivity

The only connection property that is mandatory for using the Web Service Connector is the WSDL URL for the specific Web service.

Authentication

The Web Service connector supports connections without authentication and with basic authentication, SSO, X.509 and assertion tickets.

No Proxy Client Generation

Using the connector to consume Web services does not require the generation of a client proxy.

Supported Capabilities

The Web Service Connector supports the following capabilities:

J2EE Dynamic Proxy

The Web Service Connector supports the use of the J2EE dynamic proxy (a component of the J2EE Web Services Security service). The dynamic proxy URL property can be defined to a WSIL URL, in addition to a WSDL URL, thereby extending the capabilities of the Web Service Connector.

The dynamic proxy can also be configure to an SAP Web service.

To create and configure the dynamic proxy in the J2EE Visual Administrator:

  1. Open the Java Configuration Browser of the SAP NetWeaver Administrator.

  2. Navigate to Start of the navigation path webservices Next navigation step proxies Next navigation step  sap.com Next navigation step  DynamicWSProxies End of the navigation path.

  3. Create a destination and enter a name for the destination.

  4. Configure the proxy parameters, as follows:

    • For configuring the proxy to a WDSL or WSIL URL, enter the required URL in the URL field.

      http://myserver:50000/inspection.wsil

      If any authentication is required, choose the authentication type in the Logon Data section and enter the appropriate values.

    • For configuring to an SAP system WSIL, enter the URL as follows:

      http://<server>:<port> , where <server> is the R/3 server and the <port> is 50000 + < SAP application instance number >

      Enter the appropriate values for the System ID , Client , and Language parameters and then configure authentication in the Logon Data section.

Constraints

The Web Service Connector has the following constraints:

  • Fault messages are treated as CF RuntimeException with the fault message text as the Exception message

  • SOAP attachments are not supported whether in the request or response

  • WSDL schemas must adhere to the following rules:

    • Schemas must not use the following tags: <any> , <choice> , <union> , <group> , <attributeGroup>

    • Schemas must not contain recursive element definitions (an element may not include itself in its definition)

Data Handling

The data returned by the Web Service Connector can be rendered as content in the portal either by means of Java code written by the content developer, or by automatic tools, such as the iView wizard. These tools create Web Service iViews based on an iView template provided with the portal and use the iView wizard runtime code, which handles all function iViews for all connector framework connectors. For more information about the system template, see Defining the System Landscape .

If the content is provided by means of the automatic tools, it is important to be aware of how complex data types are handled by the Web Service Connector. For detailed information, see Data Type Handling by the Web Service Connector .