SOAP Client Plug-in

SOAP Client tasks can be used as input, output and action tasks, although their basic function is to generate output. SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a light protocol that defines a standard XML format used to communicate among systems across different architectures, languages, and operating systems.

A SOAP request is an XML-based Remote Procedure Call (RPC) sent using the HTTP transport protocol. The payload of the SOAP packet is an XML document that specifies the call being made and the parameters being passed.

Web services, a SOAP class of applications, expose their services via the Internet in a manner that lets other applications access them, as well as use and combine them as required.

In order to access and successfully use Web services, client applications must know how to get them, what operations they support, what parameters they expect, as well as what they return. SOAP servers make this information available via WSDL (Web Service Description Language) files.

To configure a given SOAP Client task in the PlanetPress Workflow Configuration program, you must first get its WSDL file (note that you cannot download the WSDL file over an HTTPS connection, so you should use an HTTP connection to get the file and then switch back to a secure connection). This lets you know which services the SOAP server provides, as well as each service’s methods and namespaces.

If firewalls control communication between the SOAP client and the Web servers, they must be configured so as not to block client-server communication.

In the case of "string" type data, SOAP Client tasks normalize all line endings to a single line feed character.

Task Properties

General tab

WSDL address: Enter the URL address of the WSDL file, or choose a previously selected address from the drop-down list.
The WSDL Address of a PlanetPress Workflow SOAP server is the following: http://127.0.0.1:8080/wsdl/isoapact (assuming you are on the same machine and did not change the default HTTP port).
Get: Click to get the WSDL file from the SOAP server and populate the Service box below.
Service: Choose an available Web service from this drop-down list to populate the Method box below. You may also enter the service name directly if the WSDL file cannot be found.
Method: Choose an available method from this drop-down list. This populates the Namespace box below. You may also enter the method name directly.
Namespace: You may choose an available namespace to prevent ambiguity between identically named elements or attributes. You may also enter a namespace directly.
Resolve: Click to apply the options you chose above and to display the arguments of the chosen method in the Arguments box below.
As script: Click to apply the options you chose above and to display information on the chosen Web service in JavaScript format in a script viewer. You should use this option if the Web service is too complex to be interpreted correctly by the SOAP Client plugin.
Name: Displays the name of the arguments associated with the selected method. Note that you may also manually enter new arguments, change or delete existing ones, as well as change their order if needed.
Type: Displays the argument type.
Value: Lets you enter fixed or variable values. To exchange variable information between the Web service and PlanetPress Workflow, you must use job information variables %1 to %9 or variable %c (which contains the entire job file). Note that return values (arguments which are used to return information to the SOAP Client) are displayed in bold font.
Namespace: Displays the namespace of the arguments associated with the selected method.
Use returned raw SOAP packet as new data file: Check to use the complete SOAP packet (including the passed parameters) instead of the parameters only. This option overrides any return value set to %c in the Arguments box. You should use this option when the SOAP Client plugin is not able to fully support the syntax of the response.

Advanced tab

Domain: Enter the domain for the authentication on the SOAP server. The Domain is optional even when authentication is used.
Username: Enter the username for the authentication, if required.
Password: Enter the password for the above username.
Allow invalid security certificate: Check to ignore SSL certificates that are invalid.

On Error Tab

By default, any action task, branch, splitter or condition that generates an error will simply be ignored, and the task just under it (not within a branch) will be given control of the job file without any modification. Any initial input task that generates an error will stop the process from running as a whole, and output tasks will not generate output. The On Error tab can be used to overwrite the default behaviors.

Send to Process: Check this option to send the job file to an error management process.
Error Process drop-down: Enabled only when the Send to Process option is checked. Lists any process of which the initial input task is the Input Error Bin task.
Action Group: This group is disabled in the initial input tasks and defaults to Stop Process. In all other tasks where the On Error tab is present, the following options are available:
- Ignore: The task is ignored as if it did not exist, and the job file is passed on to the next task in the process.
- Stop Branch: If the task is in a branch of the process, the branch is stopped and the job file is returned to the process after the branch. The branch will not produce any output.
- Stop Process: The process is stopped and no more processing is done. No further output is produced.
Log Message: Check this option to enable logging a custom error message in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools' log file.
Message: Enabled only when the Log Message option is checked. Enter a message that will be logged in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools' log file. You can use any variables available in PlanetPress Workflow to customize the message.
Store the message in variable: Select in which jobinfo, local or global variable you want to store the message content.
ID: Enter an error ID. This ID will be visible in the Windows Event Viewer. However, the ID is not visible in the PlanetPress Suite Workflow Tools' log file.
Store the ID in variable: Select in which jobinfo, local or global variable you want to store the error ID.
Reset to defaults: Resets all options in this tab to their default values.

If storing the message or ID, if they are store in a jobinfo they will be available in any error handling process where errors are being forwarded. In all cases, if your process continues after the error, the contents of the variables selected in this window will be available for the rest of your process, or whenever they are overwritten.

Common Errors

Though some error messages are specific to a task in particular, others may apply to any and all tasks because they are related more to the system than to PlanetPress itself. Some examples would be W3813, W3830, W3991, W4005. These correspond to issues such as not having any space to write files, permission errors on folders or files, etc.

Comments Tab

The Comments tab, added in PlanetPress Suite 7.5, is common to all tasks. It contains a single text area (Task comments) that lets you write comments about the task. These comments are saved when the dialog is closed with the OK button, and are displayed in The Task Comments Pane.