Web Services, Part II: Calling Service Methods: Loading the Web Service URL - Doc JavaScript
Web Services, Part II: Calling Service Methods
Loading the Web Service URL
A Web service is identified by a URL. The following is an example for a valid Web service:
https://soap.bluestone.com:80/interop/EchoService/ EchoService.wsdl
It is quite cumbersome to use this URL every time you need to reference the Web service. The useService()
method establishes a friendly name for a Web service URL, which can be referenced later from within the code. Here is the formal syntax:
sElementID.useService(sWebServiceURL, sFriendlyName [, oUseOptions]);
where:
sElementID
is theID
of the element to which theWebService
behavior is attached. This parameter is required.sWebServiceURL
is theWebService
URL. This parameter is required. The path can be of four different types:- Web service file. It has an
.asmx
file extension. This short form of the URL is sufficient, provided that the Web service is located in the same folder as the Web page using theWebService
behavior. In this case, the?WSDL
query string is assumed by the behavior. - WSDL file name. A Web Services Description Language (WSDL) file name. The WSDL file must have a
.wsdl
file extension. - Full file path. A full path to a Web service (
.asmx
) or WSDL (.wsdl
) file. A file path to a Web Service must include the?WSDL
query string. Either a local file path or a URL can be specified. - Relative path. A relative path to a Web service (
.asmx
) or WSDL (.wsdl
) file. A file path to a Web service must include the?WSDL
query string. sFriendlyName
is a string representing a friendly name for the Web service URL. This parameter is required.oUseOptions
is an instance of theuseOptions
object. It has a single property,reuseConnection
, that specifies the persistence of the connection information required by Web services that use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) authentication.
The following line assigns a friendly name to a Web service file (.asmx
):
webServiceCallerBody.useService ("echoService.asmx","echo");
Notice that echoService.asmx
must reside in the same folder as the Web page that calls the WebService
behavior. Same rule applies when you call the WSDL file:
webServiceCallerBody.useService ("echoService.wsdl","echo");
The following line assigns a friendly name to a local disk file:
webServiceCallerBody.useService( "D:\legacy\yehuda\uyehuda\column97\ echoService.asmx?WSDL","echo");
You have to add the ?WSDL
query string also when you have a full HTTP path:
webServiceCallerBody.useService( "https://www.webreference.com/js/column97/ echoService.asmx?WSDL","echo");
Suppose now that the Web service .asmx
file is two levels up from the Web page (relative path):
webServiceCallerBody.useService( "../../echoService.asmx?WSDL","echo");
And finally, here is an example for an .asmx
file residing in a subfolder beneath the Web page:
webServiceCallerBody.useService( "./subfolder/echoService.asmx?WSDL","echo");
To ensure that the useService
method works correctly, you should place it inside an event handling function for the onload
event. In this way, you will ensure that the first attempt to call a method in the behavior occurs only after the page has been downloaded and parsed. The event handling function may define friendly names for one or more Web Services. Here is an example:
<BODY ID="webServiceCallerBody" onload="loadService()" style="behavior:url(webservice.htc)"> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"> <!-- function loadService() { webServiceCallerBody.useService( "https://soap.bluestone.com:80/interop/EchoService/ EchoService.wsdl","echo"); webServiceCallerBody.useService( "/services/math.asmx?WSDL", "MyMath"); } // --> </SCRIPT>
Next: How to send a message to a Web service
Produced by Yehuda Shiran and Tomer Shiran
All Rights Reserved. Legal Notices.
Created: November 19, 2001
Revised: November 19, 2001
URL: https://www.webreference.com/js/column97/3.html