Obtaining the WSDL and sending a message (like Web Services)

Question

Hi All,
Is it possible to use a service interface defined in XI as any other web service? Consider the following scenario.
1. Create an async service interface (outbound) in XI (This has a message mapping and the message goes to some inbound interface). 
2. Can we write an external application (a Java swing client or something) which can send a message to this service interface?
3. While writing a normal web services client we specify the url of the WSDL and then send a SOAP message using some APIs.
4. Can this be achieved in XI? If so could you provide me some links or blogs etc to have some idea about this. Also how do we specify the URL of the interface.
5. I have seen a similar application (an HTML file) which takes the XML payload (conforming to the message type of the interface) and sends the message to the interface. In this case the URL is formed from sender namespace, server name, port etc. The name of this HTML is XIHttp_adapter.html.
6. Can somebody give me more inputs in this direction?
Many Thanks,
Sandeep

Answer 1

Hi Sandeep,
The Info below should surely help you find an answer.
If you're on WAS 6.20 and up, you can expose an RFC as a webservice directly from WAS.
Or if you’re on Basis layer 4.6D, you'll need to use XI (or some other integration tool) to expose the RFC as a webservice.
To do this in XI you'll need to:
Integration Repository
1) Import the RFC
2) Define a message and datatype for the SOAP interface
3) Create inbound and outbound interfaces
4) Create maps between the RFC and SOAP messages
5) Create an interface map
Integration Directory
1) Create an RFC Receiver Channel
2) Create a SOAP Sender Channel
3) Generate the WSDL (Tools->Define Web Service)
You can then handoff the WSDL and a login username and password to your developer and they will have everything they need to make the WS call.
Here are answers to a few doubts u might have:
1) Do I need to actually create a WS that calls the RFC ? Isn’t the virtual interface exposed by the XI sufficient?
Yes, you need to create a WS in XI that calls the RFC.
2) If I really have to create the WS and deploy it in order to expose it with the XI, then what is my benefit of exposing it with the XI, why not just exposing it as a normal WS ?
You don't have WAS 6.20 or up. Even if you did, you may still want to expose it using XI in order to have all of your integration go through the same application.
3) If I expose my web service through the XI, how does the client application executes one of its methods? To which url does it have to access (the XI or the actual WS)?
You expose a SOAP interface in XI by generating a WSDL file. This file contains all of the information a developer will need to call the webservice including the URL.
You actually specify the URL when you generate the WSDL. Be sure to read the documentation to get the correct format because the URL that the wizard suggests isn't correct.
Also check this Pdf for the Receiever SOAP Adapter configuration:
https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/servlet/prt/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/40728f7b-0401-0010-d9bc-8c73884a3789
Also the target URL must be the URL to the WSDL. So, if you try putting it in your browser you must see the wsdl code.Please do ensure the same.....
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Abhy