Uniface 10.4: Unleashing Your Operations with public soap

In the world of Uniface 10.4, making your application’s operations accessible to external systems is crucial for integration and interoperability. This is where the powerful public soap declaration comes into play. Essentially, public soap acts as a gateway, opening up specific operations within your Uniface components so that SOAP clients can interact with them. Without this declaration, any attempt by a SOAP client to access your operations would be met with an “Access denied” error.

Understanding the Core Concepts

To fully appreciate public soap, let’s clarify a few fundamental terms:

• SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol): This is a messaging protocol designed to enable communication between different software applications over the internet, typically using XML. Think of it as a universal language that diverse systems can speak to exchange information.
• Service Component: In Uniface, a Service Component is a self-contained unit of code engineered to perform specific business functions. These components are versatile, capable of being invoked by various client types, including web browsers and, crucially, SOAP applications.
• WSDL (Web Services Description Language): A WSDL file is an XML-based document that acts like a blueprint for your web service. It describes all the operations a service offers, the data types it uses, and how to access them. When you build a SOAP service in Uniface, it can automatically generate a WSDL file, enabling clients to discover and understand your service’s capabilities.

The Simplicity of public soap Syntax

Integrating public soap into your operations is straightforward:

operation OPERATION_NAME
    public soap ; This line makes the operation callable by SOAP clients
    params
        ; Define your input parameters here
    endparams
    ; Your operation's business logic goes here
end

This single line public soap is all it takes to expose your operation to the SOAP world.

Practical Examples in Uniface 10.4

Let’s look at how public soap is used in practice:

1. A Basic SOAP-Enabled Operation:

Consider an operation designed to update data:

operation SOAP_UPDATE
    public soap ; Declared accessible via SOAP
    params
        ; ... parameters for update ...
    endparams
    ; ... update logic ...
end

With public soap, SOAP_UPDATE can now be invoked by any SOAP client configured to communicate with your Uniface service.

2. Dual Accessibility: SOAP and Web:

For maximum flexibility, you might want an operation to be accessible by both SOAP clients and traditional web browsers:

operation doSomething
    public soap
    public web ; Also accessible via web requests
    scope
        input
        output
    endscope
    ; ... unified logic for both SOAP and web ...
end

This demonstrates how an operation can simultaneously cater to structured SOAP messages and standard web requests.

Where Can You Utilize public soap?

The public soap declaration can be strategically applied within three types of Uniface components:

• Service Components: Ideal for backend services that manage core business logic.
• Dynamic Server Pages (DSP): For pages that generate content dynamically and need SOAP integration.
• Static Server Pages (SSP): Pre-rendered pages that also expose SOAP-callable functionalities.

Behind the Scenes: What Uniface Does

When you mark an operation public soap, Uniface orchestrates several actions automatically:

• It incorporates the operation into the component’s interface definition.
• It facilitates the export of the service as a WSDL file, enabling client discovery.
• It expertly handles the parsing of incoming SOAP messages and formats the outgoing responses.
• It ensures proper error reporting through standardized SoapFault messages when access rules are violated.

Security and Best Practices

Security: It’s vital to remember that operations without the public soap declaration remain shielded from external SOAP access. This granular control allows you to precisely manage which parts of your application are exposed, significantly bolstering security.

Best Practices for Implementation:

• Purposeful Exposure: Only declare operations public soap if they are genuinely intended for external SOAP consumption.
• Maximize Reach: Consider using both public soap and public web for operations that benefit from broad accessibility.
• Rigorous Testing: Thoroughly test your SOAP services with various client applications to ensure robust performance.
• Clear Documentation: Maintain comprehensive documentation for your SOAP operations, aiding other developers in integration.

Conclusion: Connecting Your Uniface Applications

The public soap declaration in Uniface 10.4 is more than just a keyword; it’s a fundamental enabler for building highly integrated, enterprise-grade web services. By mastering its use, you unlock powerful capabilities for connecting your Uniface applications with diverse external systems, fostering seamless data exchange and robust interoperability. Whether you’re integrating with legacy systems or building modern, interconnected solutions, public soap is your key to a more connected Uniface environment.