A Web Service Data Link is used to connect to external Web Services, much like an ActiveX DLL Data Link is used to connect to external
.NET Class DLLs. Web Service Data Links have the following parameters:
- Data Link Name - The name of the data link as it is referred to in CATSWeb, with a maximum length of 100 characters. User-defined data link names are enclosed in "[ ]" characters. CATSWeb will automatically add these characters to the name if not provided by you.
- Description - An optional description for the data link (255 characters max).
- Provider Name - The name of the Web Service Provider that the data link utilizes.
- Programmatic ID - The Programmatic ID of the Web Service Provider. This field is read-only and is determined by the Provider Name selected.
- Web Service URL - The URL of the Web Service that the data link is accessing. Note that the URL is utilized from the CATSWeb Web Server, not from client machines. This means that if the Web Service is located on the same server as the CATSWeb Web Server, "localhost" may be used as a host name.
- Interface Type - This setting is used by the AssurX Standard Provider to specify the interface type of the target Web Service. Choosing .NET causes the standard provider to exchange .NET DataSets with the Web Service. Choosing J2EE causes the standard provider to exchange data with the Web Service in the form of XML String. The setting may be used by other Web Service Providers as well, consult the documentation for the provider.
- Call Type - This setting is used by the AssurX Standard Provider to specify how the target Web Service is called:
- Synchronous (with timeout) - CATSWeb calls the Web Service and waits either for it to respond, or until the specified Timeout period elapses.
- Synchronous (no timeout) - CATSWeb calls the Web Service and waits indefinitely for it to respond. The Timeout settings described below are ignored.
- One-way - CATSWeb calls the Web Service and does not wait for it to respond before continuing its processing. CATSWeb is simply providing an "FYI" to the Web Service that an event has occurred. The Web Service does not need to respond, and if it does, CATSWeb will ignore the response. Since CATSWeb does not wait for a response, the Timeout settings described below are ignored.
- Timeout - The amount of time (in seconds) that CATSWeb will wait for a response from a Web Service when the Call Type is Synchronous (with timeout). If the timeout period expires, CATSWeb will either display an error or warning, or ignore the timeout, based on the Ignore Timeout setting. Note that the time period may be interpreted differently by various servers, and should be viewed as a relative time period, rather than an exact time period.
- Ignore Timeout - Determines how CATSWeb reacts when a Web Service that is called and does not respond prior to the specified Timeout. If not checked, CATSWeb will post an error or warning to the user. If checked, CATSWeb will treat the timeout as if the Web Service had responded, but returned no data.
Value-added but non-critical data lookups or calculations that are designed to occur during form reload are examples of activities in which it may be appropriate to ignore timeouts from Web Services that may be temporarily unavailable. Validation processes and other critical actions are examples of activities in which timeouts should not be ignored.
- Timeout Message - An optional message that CATSWeb will display when a timeout occurs that is not ignored. If not specified, CATSWeb will create a generic message that identifies the Web Service called. Note that the message may be displayed within a message box, or within the context of the normal error stack, depending on the nature of the error.
- Data Field - The data field (element or column) that CATSWeb reads data from in data returned by the Web Service. This is used if the data link is intended to provide list values or a default value for a field. It may be left blank for other applications.
- Provider Info 1-n - These fields may be used to pass arbitrary data to the Web Service Provider or Web Service. Consult the documentation for the Web Service Provider and/or Web Service to know what (if anything) should be specified.
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