These days I keep busy upgrading Advania solutions to Dynamics NAV 2013. All the older solutions that have communicated with web services have DOM objects and manually created XML files. We had to add and remove namespace to be able to use XML ports but in the end this worked flawlessly.
In NAV 2013 it is possible to use DOM objects on the client-side but my mission is to execute as much as possible on the server-side and use dotnet interoperability in all cases. That left me with two choices; rewrite all the DOM C/AL Code and use dotnet or build a class library and minimize the code as much as possible.
I tried both and for me the choice is simple. I will go with the class library method.
If I have the WSDL (Web Services Description Language) as a file or supplied by the web service then I will get both the commands and the data types needed for the communication. The C/AL Code needed can be as little as four lines.
[code]
Greidslur := Greidslur.GreidslurWS; // Construct the SoapHTTPClientProtocol
Greidslur.Url := XMLURLPaymentsUnsigned; // Set the URL to the service
SecurityHelper.SetUserName(Greidslur,WebServiceUserID,WebServicePassword); // Add authentication if needed
DoesExist := Greidslur.ErReikningurTil(BankNo,LedgerNo,AccountNo,OwnerID); // Carry out the communication[/code]
The identical C/AL Code required to do the same query with DOM is a lot longer
[code]DocumentReady := CREATE(DOMDocument);
IF NOT DocumentReady THEN
ERROR(Text003);
IXMLDOMProcessingInstruction := DOMDocument.createProcessingInstruction(‘xml’,’version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"’);
DOMDocument.appendChild(IXMLDOMProcessingInstruction);
IXMLDOMElement := DOMDocument.createElement(‘soap:Envelope’);
IXMLDOMElement.setAttribute(‘xmlns:soap’,’http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/’);
IXMLDOMElement.setAttribute(‘xmlns:xsi’,’http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance’);
IXMLDOMElement.setAttribute(‘xmlns:xsd’,’http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema’);
CreateHeader(IXMLDOMElement2); // Creates the authentication
IXMLDOMElement3 := DOMDocument.createElement(‘soap:Body’);
IXMLDOMElement4 := DOMDocument.createElement(‘ErReikningurTil’);
IXMLDOMElement4.setAttribute(‘xmlns’,’http://ws.isb.is’);
IXMLDOMElement5 := DOMDocument.createElement(‘banki’);
IXMLDOMElement5.nodeTypedValue(BankNo);
IXMLDOMElement4.appendChild(IXMLDOMElement5);
IXMLDOMElement5 := DOMDocument.createElement(‘hofudbok’);
IXMLDOMElement5.nodeTypedValue(LedgerNo);
IXMLDOMElement4.appendChild(IXMLDOMElement5);
IXMLDOMElement5 := DOMDocument.createElement(‘reikningsnumer’);
IXMLDOMElement5.nodeTypedValue(AccountNo);
IXMLDOMElement4.appendChild(IXMLDOMElement5);
IXMLDOMElement5 := DOMDocument.createElement(‘kennitala’);
IXMLDOMElement5.nodeTypedValue(OwnerID);
IXMLDOMElement4.appendChild(IXMLDOMElement5);
IXMLDOMElement3.appendChild(IXMLDOMElement4);
IXMLDOMElement.appendChild(IXMLDOMElement2);
IXMLDOMElement.appendChild(IXMLDOMElement3);
DOMDocument.appendChild(IXMLDOMElement);
XMLHttp.open( ‘POST’, XMLURLPaymentsUnsigned, FALSE);
XMLHttp.setRequestHeader(‘soapAction’,’http://ws.isb.is/ErReikningurTil’);
XMLHttp.send(DOMDocument);
DOMResponseDocument := XMLHttp.responseXML;
IXMLDOMNode := DOMResponseDocument.selectSingleNode(‘/soap:Envelope/soap:Body’);
IXMLDOMNodeList2 := IXMLDOMNode.childNodes;
FOR j := 1 TO IXMLDOMNodeList2.length DO BEGIN
IXMLDOMNode2 := IXMLDOMNodeList2.nextNode;
CASE IXMLDOMNode2.nodeName OF
‘soap:Fault’:
BEGIN
IXMLDOMNodeList3 := IXMLDOMNode2.childNodes;
FOR k := 1 TO IXMLDOMNodeList3.length DO BEGIN
IXMLDOMNode4 := IXMLDOMNodeList3.nextNode;
CASE IXMLDOMNode4.nodeName OF
‘faultcode’:
BEGIN
END;
‘faultstring’:
BEGIN
ERROR(DecodeText(IXMLDOMNode4.text));
END;
‘faultfactor’:
BEGIN
END;
END;
END;
END;
‘ErReikningurTilResponse’:
BEGIN
IXMLDOMNodeList3 := IXMLDOMNode2.childNodes;
IXMLDOMNode3 := IXMLDOMNodeList3.nextNode;
CASE IXMLDOMNode3.nodeName OF
‘ErReikningurTilResult’:
BEGIN
IF UPPERCASE(IXMLDOMNode3.text) = ‘TRUE’ THEN
DoesExist := TRUE;
END;
END;
END;
END;
END;
CLEAR(DOMDocument);
CLEAR(DOMResponseDocument);[/code]
This example should show you not only that the class library method is simpler but also the potential error in creating the XML is no longer available.
But, there is a but. There are web services that do not have WSDL. Just a simple ‘POST’ or ‘GET’ services that requires incoming XML and respond with a XML. For all the XML files needed there should be a XML Schema Definition or what is normally knows as a XSD file. If that is the case then there is also a dotnet solution for that.
The first step is to collect all the XSD files needed into a single folder on your local computer and start the Visual Studio Command Prompt.
Go to the folder with the XSD files.
Then you use the command “xsd CollectorEntity.xsd /classes” and repeat for all xsd files. You should now have C# class file for all XSD files.
Next step is to build a class library in the same way that I showed before and add the class files to the solution.
Then build the solution and copy the DLL file to your server Add-ins folder and to your developement environment Add-ins folder and you are good to go. After adding the new class as a dotnet variable to C/AL I am able to handle the data types from the XSD file the same way as if they were created by a WSDL.
[code]Login := Login.Login;
Login.user := WebServiceUserID;
Login.password := WebServicePassword;
Login.version := 1.1;
Login_answer := Login_answer.Login_answer;
Log."Outgoing Message".CREATEOUTSTREAM(OutStr);
PrepareSend(Login,OutStr);
Log.MODIFY;
COMMIT;
Log."Incoming Message".CREATEOUTSTREAM(OutStr);
Send(OutStr);
Log.MODIFY;
COMMIT;
IF Receive(Login_answer,Login_answer.GetType) THEN
SessionID := Login_answer.sessionid;[/code]
The functions, PrepareSend, Send and Receive will work for all data types
[code]OBJECT Codeunit 50000 Dotnet Send and Receive
{
OBJECT-PROPERTIES
{
Date=09.05.13;
Time=12:06:27;
Modified=Yes;
Version List=Dynamics.is;
}
PROPERTIES
{
OnRun=BEGIN
END;
}
CODE
{
VAR
HttpWebRequest@10010413 : DotNet "’System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Net.HttpWebRequest";
XMLResponseDoc@10010414 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.XmlDocument";
ServiceURL@10000003 : Text[1024];
GotSetup@10000004 : Boolean;
Text003@10000005 : TextConst ‘ENU=Error: %1\%2;ISL=St”Ðuvilla %1, %2\\%3\%4′;
PROCEDURE GetSetup@3(NewServiceURL@10000000 : Text[1024]);
BEGIN
IF NOT GotSetup THEN BEGIN
ServiceURL := NewServiceURL;
END;
END;
PROCEDURE PrepareSend@10010407(VAR OutObj@1000000000 : DotNet "’mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Object";VAR RequestStream@10010401 : OutStream) : Boolean;
VAR
MemoryStream@1000000006 : DotNet "’mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.IO.MemoryStream";
XmlTextWriter@1000000007 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.XmlTextWriter";
XmlSerializer@1000000008 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer";
XMLRequestDoc@1000000013 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.XmlDocument";
Encoding@1000000010 : DotNet "’mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089’.System.Text.Encoding";
InStr@10010400 : InStream;
BEGIN
Encoding := Encoding.UTF8;
MemoryStream := MemoryStream.MemoryStream;
XmlTextWriter := XmlTextWriter.XmlTextWriter(MemoryStream,Encoding);
XmlSerializer := XmlSerializer.XmlSerializer(OutObj.GetType);
XmlSerializer.Serialize(XmlTextWriter,OutObj);
XMLRequestDoc := XMLRequestDoc.XmlDocument;
XMLRequestDoc.PreserveWhitespace := TRUE;
MemoryStream.Position := 0;
XMLRequestDoc.Load(MemoryStream);
MemoryStream.Close;
XMLRequestDoc.Save(RequestStream);
HttpWebRequest := HttpWebRequest.Create(ServiceURL); // Live Server
HttpWebRequest.Method := ‘POST’;
HttpWebRequest.ContentType := ‘text/xml; charset=utf-8’;
HttpWebRequest.Accept := ‘text/xml’;
HttpWebRequest.UserAgent := ‘XMLClient 1.0′;
MemoryStream := HttpWebRequest.GetRequestStream;
XMLRequestDoc.Save(MemoryStream);
MemoryStream.Flush;
MemoryStream.Close;
END;
PROCEDURE Send@10010405(VAR ResponseStream@10010400 : OutStream) : Boolean;
VAR
HttpWebException@10010401 : DotNet "’System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Net.WebException";
HttpWebResponse@10010402 : DotNet "’System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Net.HttpWebResponse";
HttpStatusCode@1000000012 : DotNet "’System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Net.HttpStatusCode";
MemoryStream@1000000006 : DotNet "’mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.IO.MemoryStream";
XMLResponseDoc@1000000009 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.XmlDocument";
InStr@10010403 : InStream;
BEGIN
HttpWebResponse := HttpWebRequest.GetResponse;
IF HttpWebResponse.StatusCode.ToString <> HttpStatusCode.OK.ToString THEN
ERROR(Text003,HttpWebResponse.StatusCode.ToString,HttpWebResponse.StatusDescription);
MemoryStream := HttpWebResponse.GetResponseStream;
XMLResponseDoc := XMLResponseDoc.XmlDocument;
XMLResponseDoc.Load(MemoryStream);
MemoryStream.Flush;
MemoryStream.Close;
XMLResponseDoc.Save(ResponseStream);
END;
PROCEDURE Receive@10010406(VAR InObj@1000000001 : DotNet "’mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Object";typeResponse@1000000002 : DotNet "’mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Type") : Boolean;
VAR
XmlSerializer@1000000008 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer";
XmlNodeReader@1000000015 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.XmlNodeReader";
BEGIN
XmlNodeReader := XmlNodeReader.XmlNodeReader(XMLResponseDoc.DocumentElement);
XmlSerializer := XmlSerializer.XmlSerializer(typeResponse);
InObj := XmlSerializer.Deserialize(XmlNodeReader);
EXIT(NOT ISNULL(InObj));
END;
EVENT XMLResponseDoc@10010414::NodeInserting@93(sender@10010401 : Variant;e@10010400 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.XmlNodeChangedEventArgs");
BEGIN
END;
EVENT XMLResponseDoc@10010414::NodeInserted@94(sender@10010401 : Variant;e@10010400 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.XmlNodeChangedEventArgs");
BEGIN
END;
EVENT XMLResponseDoc@10010414::NodeRemoving@95(sender@10010401 : Variant;e@10010400 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.XmlNodeChangedEventArgs");
BEGIN
END;
EVENT XMLResponseDoc@10010414::NodeRemoved@96(sender@10010401 : Variant;e@10010400 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.XmlNodeChangedEventArgs");
BEGIN
END;
EVENT XMLResponseDoc@10010414::NodeChanging@97(sender@10010401 : Variant;e@10010400 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089′.System.Xml.XmlNodeChangedEventArgs");
BEGIN
END;
EVENT XMLResponseDoc@10010414::NodeChanged@98(sender@10010401 : Variant;e@10010400 : DotNet "’System.Xml, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089’.System.Xml.XmlNodeChangedEventArgs");
BEGIN
END;
BEGIN
END.
}
}
[/code]
If this i still causing you headaches just contact me and we will figure something out.
