Importing SOAP web services

You can use IBM® App Connect to import web services, then connect them to your other applications.

Before you begin

To use App Connect with an imported web service, you must have a WSDL or .zip file that defines all the resources and operations of your SOAP web service. App Connect supports web services that use SOAP 1.1 and SOAP 1.2.
Note: If you're using a .zip file and the main WSDL file refers to dependent files, include those files in the .zip file or make them publicly available.
The following restrictions apply to the WSDL files that you can import into App Connect.
  • A .zip file must contain only a single WSDL service.
  • The file size must not exceed 3 MB.
  • The anyURI and base64Binary XSD element types are modeled as a string.
  • Any wsdl or xsd references that are being imported through a URL need to be publicly available.
  • The following definitions are not supported:
    • RPC-encoded WSDL definitions
    • WSDL services that define multiple WSDL ports
    • WSDL services that define multiple WSDL port types
    • WSDL definitions or XML schemas that require you to disambiguate between several different derived types
    • WSDL definitions that import schemas that use any of the following XSD features:
      anyType
      substitutionGroup
      choice
      any
      anyAttribute
      union
    • WSDL definitions with non-unique element names that define their type anonymously inline.

About this task

Web services are software applications that are provided over the internet by using a standardized XML messaging system. Web services are described by using Web Services Description Language (WSDL). You can add SOAP web services to App Connect by importing WSDL or .zip files (compressed file) that contain definitions for SOAP web services. You can then use App Connect to call the web service from a flow and to pass data between that web service and other applications.

Procedure

To import a SOAP web service to App Connect, complete the following steps.

  1. In the App Connect Designer navigation pane, expand Connect, click Applications and APIs, then click the Add connector or API icon (+).
    The Add connector or API icon on the Applications and APIs page to add a connector or API to the catalog.
  2. On the Import or discover page, select Import a connector file or API document, then click Next.
    The image shows that the selected option is "Import a connector file or API document".
  3. On the Import document page, set Document type to SOAP web service.
  4. Provide the WSDL or .zip file for the web service in one of the following ways, then click Next.
    • Drag the WSDL or .zip file into the Import box.
    • Click in the Import box then find the WSDL or .zip file from a local or network drive.
    • Enter a valid fully qualified URL for the WSDL file that you want to import.
      Only the HTTP and HTTPS transports are supported. If you're importing a web service by using a .zip file, any XSD files that the file links to must be publicly available. The URL must end in ?wsdl as shown in the following example.
      http://myserver.com/services/MyService?wsdl
      The image shows the Import document page. The Document type is set to SOAP web service and the Import field contains the name of a WSDL file.
  5. On the Review properties page, enter a name for the web service so that you can identify it on the Applications and APIs page.
    The name can be a maximum of 30 alphanumeric characters and can include spaces, hyphens, underscores, periods, colons, ampersands, asterisks, and parentheses. You can also enter a description of up to 250 characters that summarizes the functions of the web service.
    The defined operations in the imported file are shown as actions.
    The image shows the Review properties page, that has a name and description for the web service, and a list of actions (CalculateCarMileage and CalculateHomeContents.
  6. Click Import connector.

Results

The imported web service is shown in the list of connectors on the Applications and APIs page. Expand the web service to see the available actions that you can use in your flows, and to connect to the web service.
The imported web service is shown on the Applications and APIs page with a Connect button. The actions for the web service are listed, and a link is provided to remove the web service.

What to do next

  • To pass data between an imported web service and applications or APIs in the App Connect catalog, you must connect App Connect to each web service, API, and application in the flow. You can connect to the web service from the flow editor when you add it to a flow or you can connect on the Applications and APIs page.
  • After you connect to the web service, you can add it as a target application to a flow.
  • When you no longer need the web service, you can remove it from the Applications and APIs page.
For more information, see How to use IBM App Connect with SOAP web services.