Problem in invoking a BPEL process with complex input

Question

Hi,
I have an asynchronous BPEL process which has a complex request schema. When I try to invoke the process through BPEL Console, it works properly. But when invoking it through Java API, it seems that the input soap message is not well received by the process. Here are relevant files:
*==============-BPEL file==================*
<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8" ?>
<process name="MapCopyProject"
targetNamespace="http://mapcopyservices/"
xmlns="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2003/03/business-process/"
xmlns:taskservice="http://xmlns.oracle.com/bpel/workflow/taskService"
xmlns:bpws="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2003/03/business-process/"
xmlns:task="http://xmlns.oracle.com/bpel/workflow/task"
xmlns:ids="http://xmlns.oracle.com/bpel/services/IdentityService/xpath"
xmlns:wfcommon="http://xmlns.oracle.com/bpel/workflow/common"
xmlns:ehdr="http://www.oracle.com/XSL/Transform/java/oracle.tip.esb.server.headers.ESBHeaderFunctions"
xmlns:ns4="http://mapcopyservices/"
xmlns:ns3="http://mapcopyservices/types/"
xmlns:xp20="http://www.oracle.com/XSL/Transform/java/oracle.tip.pc.services.functions.Xpath20"
xmlns:ldap="http://schemas.oracle.com/xpath/extension/ldap"
xmlns:ora="http://schemas.oracle.com/xpath/extension"
xmlns:hwf="http://xmlns.oracle.com/bpel/workflow/xpath"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:bpelx="http://schemas.oracle.com/bpel/extension"
xmlns:orcl="http://www.oracle.com/XSL/Transform/java/oracle.tip.pc.services.functions.ExtFunc"
xmlns:wf="http://schemas.oracle.com/bpel/extension/workflow">
<!--
PARTNERLINKS
List of services participating in this BPEL process
-->
<partnerLinks>
<partnerLink name="MapCheckService" partnerLinkType="ns4:MapCheckService_PL"
partnerRole="MapCheckService_Role"/>
<partnerLink myRole="TotalBPELProcessProvider" name="TotalBPELProcess"
partnerRole="TotalBPELProcessRequester"
partnerLinkType="ns4:TotalBPELProcess"/>
<partnerLink name="MapActionService" partnerRole="MapActionService_Role"
partnerLinkType="ns4:MapActionService_PL"/>
</partnerLinks>
<variables>
<variable name="ClientInput"
messageType="ns4:TotalBPELProcessRequestMessage"/>
<variable name="ClientOutput"
messageType="ns4:TotalBPELProcessResponseMessage"/>
<variable name="CheckSourceExistance_Output"
messageType="ns4:MapCheckService_checkSourceExistanceResponse"/>
<variable name="CheckSourceExistance_Input"
messageType="ns4:MapCheckService_checkSourceExistance"/>
<variable name="GetCoordinateSystemType_Output"
messageType="ns4:MapCheckService_getCoordinateSystemTypeResponse"/>
<variable name="GetCoordinateSystemType_Input"
messageType="ns4:MapCheckService_getCoordinateSystemType"/>
<variable name="CheckSourceExistance2_Input"
messageType="ns4:MapCheckService_checkSourceExistance"/>
<variable name="CheckSourceExistance2_Output"
messageType="ns4:MapCheckService_checkSourceExistanceResponse"/>
<variable name="InvokeMapAction_Input"
messageType="ns4:MapActionService_CopyAndTransform"/>
<variable name="InvokeMapAction_Output"
messageType="ns4:MapActionService_CopyAndTransformResponse"/>
</variables>
<!--
VARIABLES
List of messages and XML documents used within this BPEL process
-->
<!--
ORCHESTRATION LOGIC
Set of activities coordinating the flow of messages across the
services integrated within this business process
-->
<sequence name="main">
<receive name="ReceiveInput" partnerLink="TotalBPELProcess"
portType="ns4:TotalBPELProcessInvoke" operation="initiate"
variable="ClientInput" createInstance="yes"/>
<flow name="Flow_1">
<sequence name="Sequence_1">
<assign name="Assign_3">
<copy>
<from variable="ClientInput" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:TotalBPELProcessRequest/ns3:destConn"/>
<to variable="CheckSourceExistance2_Input" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:checkSourceExistanceElement/ns3:MapConnection_1"/>
</copy>
</assign>
<invoke name="Invoke_CheckSource2" partnerLink="MapCheckService"
portType="ns4:MapCheckService" operation="checkSourceExistance"
inputVariable="CheckSourceExistance2_Input"
outputVariable="CheckSourceExistance2_Output"/>
</sequence>
<sequence name="Sequence_1">
<assign name="Assign_1">
<copy>
<from variable="ClientInput" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:TotalBPELProcessRequest/ns3:sourceConn"/>
<to variable="CheckSourceExistance_Input" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:checkSourceExistanceElement/ns3:MapConnection_1"/>
</copy>
</assign>
<invoke name="Invoke_CheckSource" partnerLink="MapCheckService"
portType="ns4:MapCheckService" operation="checkSourceExistance"
inputVariable="CheckSourceExistance_Input"
outputVariable="CheckSourceExistance_Output"/>
</sequence>
</flow>
<switch name="CheckSourceAndDest">
<case condition="string(bpws:getVariableData('CheckSourceExistance_Output','parameters','/ns3:checkSourceExistanceResponseElement/ns3:result'))='true' and string(bpws:getVariableData('CheckSourceExistance2_Output','parameters','/ns3:checkSourceExistanceResponseElement/ns3:result'))='true'">
<empty name="Empty_1"/>
</case>
<otherwise>
<terminate name="Terminate_1"/>
</otherwise>
</switch>
<assign name="Assign_4">
<copy>
<from variable="ClientInput" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:TotalBPELProcessRequest/ns3:sourceConn"/>
<to variable="GetCoordinateSystemType_Input" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:getCoordinateSystemTypeElement/ns3:MapConnection_1"/>
</copy>
</assign>
<invoke name="Invoke_GetCoSysType" partnerLink="MapCheckService"
portType="ns4:MapCheckService" operation="getCoordinateSystemType"
inputVariable="GetCoordinateSystemType_Input"
outputVariable="GetCoordinateSystemType_Output"/>
<switch name="CheckPossibility">
<case condition="number(bpws:getVariableData('GetCoordinateSystemType_Output','parameters','/ns3:getCoordinateSystemTypeResponseElement/ns3:result'))=number(bpws:getVariableData('ClientInput','parameters','/ns3:TotalBPELProcessRequest/ns3:transformMapType'))">
<empty name="Empty_2"/>
</case>
<otherwise>
<terminate name="Terminate_2"/>
</otherwise>
</switch>
<assign name="Assign_7">
<copy>
<from variable="ClientInput" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:TotalBPELProcessRequest/ns3:sourceConn"/>
<to variable="InvokeMapAction_Input" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:CopyAndTransformElement/ns3:sourceConn"/>
</copy>
<copy>
<from variable="ClientInput" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:TotalBPELProcessRequest/ns3:destConn"/>
<to variable="InvokeMapAction_Input" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:CopyAndTransformElement/ns3:destConn"/>
</copy>
<copy>
<from variable="ClientInput" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:TotalBPELProcessRequest/ns3:transformMapType"/>
<to variable="InvokeMapAction_Input" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:CopyAndTransformElement/ns3:transformMapType"/>
</copy>
</assign>
<invoke name="Invoke_MapAction" partnerLink="MapActionService"
portType="ns4:MapActionService" operation="CopyAndTransform"
inputVariable="InvokeMapAction_Input"
outputVariable="InvokeMapAction_Output"/>
<assign name="Assign_6">
<copy>
<from variable="InvokeMapAction_Output" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:CopyAndTransformResponseElement/ns3:result"/>
<to variable="ClientOutput" part="parameters"
query="/ns3:TotalBPELProcessResponse/ns3:result"/>
</copy>
</assign>
<invoke name="Invoke_CallBack" partnerLink="TotalBPELProcess"
portType="ns4:TotalBPELProcessCallback" operation="onResult"
inputVariable="ClientOutput"/>
</sequence>
</process>
*==================WSDL file of process invoke port================*
<definitions
name="TotalBPELProcess"
targetNamespace="http://mapcopyservices/"
xmlns="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/"
xmlns:tns="http://mapcopyservices/"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/"
xmlns:mime="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/mime/"
xmlns:soap12="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap12/"
xmlns:tns0="http://mapcopyservices/types/"
xmlns:plnk="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2003/05/partner-link/"
>
<types>
<schema xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" targetNamespace="http://mapcopyservices/types/"
elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns:tns="http://mapcopyservices/types/" xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:soap11-enc="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">
<complexType name="MapConnection">
<sequence>
<element name="layerName" type="string" nillable="true"/>
<element name="connString" type="string" nillable="true"/>
<element name="mapType" type="int"/>
</sequence>
</complexType>
<element name="TotalBPELProcessRequest">
<complexType>
<sequence>
<element name="sourceConn" type="tns:MapConnection" nillable="true"/>
<element name="destConn" type="tns:MapConnection" nillable="true"/>
<element name="transformMapType" type="int"/>
</sequence>
</complexType>
</element>
<element name="TotalBPELProcessResponse">
<complexType>
<sequence>
<element name="result" type="int"/>
</sequence>
</complexType>
</element>
</schema>
</types>
<message name="TotalBPELProcessRequestMessage">
<part name="parameters" element="tns0:TotalBPELProcessRequest"/>
</message>
<message name="TotalBPELProcessResponseMessage">
<part name="parameters" element="tns0:TotalBPELProcessResponse"/>
</message>
     <portType name="TotalBPELProcessInvoke">
          <operation name="initiate">
               <input message="tns:TotalBPELProcessRequestMessage"/>
          </operation>
     </portType>
     <!-- portType implemented by the requester of BPELProcess1 BPEL process
     for asynchronous callback purposes
     -->
     <portType name="TotalBPELProcessCallback">
          <operation name="onResult">
               <input message="tns:TotalBPELProcessResponseMessage"/>
          </operation>
     </portType>
     <plnk:partnerLinkType name="TotalBPELProcess">
          <plnk:role name="TotalBPELProcessProvider">
               <plnk:portType name="tns:TotalBPELProcessInvoke"/>
          </plnk:role>
          <plnk:role name="TotalBPELProcessRequester">
               <plnk:portType name="tns:TotalBPELProcessCallback"/>
          </plnk:role>
     </plnk:partnerLinkType>
</definitions>
*===================JSP invoking file=====================*
<%@ page contentType="text/html;charset=windows-1252"%>
<%@page import="java.util.Map" %>
<%@page import="com.oracle.bpel.client.Locator" %>
<%@page import="com.oracle.bpel.client.NormalizedMessage" %>
<%@page import="com.oracle.bpel.client.delivery.IDeliveryService" %>
<%@page import="java.util.*" %>
<%@ page import="javax.naming.Context" %>
<%@ page import="javax.naming.InitialContext" %>
<%@ page import="javax.naming.NamingException" %>
<%@ page import="javax.rmi.PortableRemoteObject" %>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"/>
<title>CopyMap</title>
</head>
<body>
     <%
try{
     String xml =
"<ns100:TotalBPELProcessRequest xmlns:ns100=\"http://mapcopyservices/types/\">"+
"<ns100:sourceConn>"+
"<ns100:layerName>1</ns100:layerName>"+
"<ns100:connString>1</ns100:connString>"+
"<ns100:mapType>1</ns100:mapType>"+
"</ns100:sourceConn>"+
"<ns100:destConn>"+
"<ns100:layerName>1</ns100:layerName>"+
"<ns100:connString>1</ns100:connString>"+
"<ns100:mapType>1</ns100:mapType>"+
"</ns100:destConn>"+
"<ns100:transformMapType>1</ns100:transformMapType>"+
"</ns100:TotalBPELProcessRequest>";
Hashtable jndi = new Hashtable();
jndi.put(Context.PROVIDER_URL, "opmn:ormi://amir:6003:oc4j_soa/orabpel");
jndi.put(Context.INITIAL_CONTEXT_FACTORY, "oracle.j2ee.rmi.RMIInitialContextFactory");
jndi.put(Context.SECURITY_PRINCIPAL, "oc4jadmin");
jndi.put(Context.SECURITY_CREDENTIALS, "as123456");
Locator locator = new Locator("default","as123456",jndi);
     IDeliveryService deliveryService =
          (IDeliveryService)locator.lookupService
          (IDeliveryService.SERVICE_NAME );
     NormalizedMessage nm = new NormalizedMessage( );
     nm.addPart("payload", xml );
deliveryService.post("MapCopyProject", "initiate", nm);
     out.println( "BPELProcess MapCopyProject initiated!<br>" );
catch(Exception ex){
out.println(ex.getMessage());
ex.printStackTrace();
     %>
</body>
</html>
*===================================*
Error occurs in first assign activity like this:
*=========*
Error in evaluate <from> expression at line "97". The result is empty for the XPath expression : "/ns3:TotalBPELProcessRequest/ns3:sourceConn".
*=========*
Please tell me if you know how to solve it. Thanks

Answer 1

It sounds very much like a namespace issue.
As it works from the BPELConsole, fill in the values in the BPELConsole initiate page and switch from the HTML to the XML view. Copy the XML to Notepad or another suitable editor; then insert it as fixed values into the Java/JSP code and try to call the server with the hardcoded payload instead of the one you are generating.
You can also save the payload in the JSP (write it to a file or standard output) before the call; then open it in jDeveloper or Eclipse and validate it against the schema. That way you will find if the XML is invalid.
Also, check the flow in the BPELConsole. As it fails on an XPath expression you must have a process. If you click on the receive activity you can see the received payload. Again, copy that to jDeveloper or Eclipse and validate it. Also compare it to the XML you get if you initiate the process manuallly. There must be some difference.
If you still can't get it to work, post the XML from the initiate operation and from the JSP operation (as they are seen in the receive activity) and we can help you check them out!