7.4

A SOAP request is an XML-based Remote Procedure Call (RPC) sent using the HTTP transport protocol. The payload of the
SOAP packet is an XML document that specifies the call being made and the parameters being passed.
Web services, a SOAP class of applications, expose their services via the Internet in a manner that lets other applications
access them, as well as use and combine them as required.
In order to access and successfully use Web services, client applications must know how to get them, what operations they
support, what parameters they expect, as well as what they return. SOAP servers make this information available via WSDL
(Web Service Description Language) files.
To configure a given SOAP Client task in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools Configuration program, you must first get its
WSDL file (note that you cannot download the WSDL file over an HTTPS connection, so you should use an HTTP connection to
get the file and then switch back to a secure connection). This lets you know which services the SOAP server provides, as well
as each service’s methods and namespaces.
If firewalls control communication between the SOAP client and the Web servers, they must be configured so as not to block
client-server communication.
In the case of "string" type data, SOAP Client tasks normalize all line endings to a single line feed character.
Task Properties
General tab
l WSDL address: Enter the URL address of the WSDL file, or choose a previously selected address from the drop-
down list.
The WSDL Address of a PlanetPress Workflow SOAP server is the following: http://127.0-
.0.1:8080/wsdl/isoapact (assuming you are on the same machine and did not change the default
HTTP port).
l Get: Click to get the WSDL file from the SOAP server and populate the Service box below.
l Service: Choose an available Web service from this drop-down list to populate the Method box below. You may also
enter the service name directly if the WSDL file cannot be found.
l Method: Choose an available method from this drop-down list. This populates the Namespace box below. You may
also enter the method name directly.
l Namespace: You may choose an available namespace to prevent ambiguity between identically named elements or
attributes. You may also enter a namespace directly.
l Resolve: Click to apply the options you chose above and to display the arguments of the chosen method in the Argu-
ments box below.
l As script: Click to apply the options you chose above and to display information on the chosen Web service in Java-
Script format in a script viewer. You should use this option if the Web service is too complex to be interpreted correctly
by the SOAP Client plugin.
l Name: Displays the name of the arguments associated with the selected method. Note that you may also manually
enter new arguments, change or delete existing ones, as well as change their order if needed.
l Type: Displays the argument type.
l Value: Lets you enter fixed or variable values. To exchange variable information between the Web service and Plan-
etPress Suite Workflow Tools, you must use job information variables %1 to %9 or variable %c (which contains the
entire job file). Note that return values (arguments which are used to return information to the SOAP Client) are dis-
played in bold font.
l Namespace: Displays the namespace of the arguments associated with the selected method.
l Use returned raw SOAP packet as new data file: Check to use the complete SOAP packet (including the
passed parameters) instead of the parameters only. This option overrides any return value set to %c in the