Apache CXF JAX-WS: SOAP based Web Service using Top-Down approach

In this article, we will learn and implement a JAX-WS based SOAP Web Service using Apache CXF Reference Implementation (Apache-CXF-RI)

Apache CXF has a good integration with Spring framework, so developers can define beans using spring annotation like @Service, @Repository & @Component and later this can be invoked for the incoming http/https SOAP requests based on the CXFServlet configured in the web application

Basically, we got two options while developing/implementation of SOAP Web Service

  • Top-Down approach or Contract first
  • Bottom-UP approach or Code first

We will concentrate on the first approach i.e.; Top-Down approach. Although bottom-up approach is comparatively quite simpler to develop, but developer in collaboration with designer should prefer to implement Top-Down approach as it is advantageous and involves writing contact document first i.e.; WSDL

In this approach, XSD i.e.; XML Schema and WSDL i.e.; Web Service Description Language are designed/written before implementation. Later using maven plugins (wsdl2java/wsimport goals), we can generate required Java artifacts and extend/use these classes to implement the business functionalities

Note: For simple use case, we can use command line interface to generate java artifacts

Technology Used

  • Java 1.7
  • Eclipse Luna IDE
  • Apache CXF-3.0.2
  • Spring-4.1.0.RELEASE
  • Apache Maven 3.2.1
  • Apache Tomcat-8.0.15
  • Oracle Weblogic server 12c

Mavenize or download required jars

Add apache-cxf-3.0.2 & spring-4.1.0.RELEASE dependencies to pom.xml

<!-- properties -->
<properties>
	<cxf.version>3.0.2</cxf.version>
	<spring.version>4.1.0.RELEASE</spring.version>
	<cxf.scope>compile</cxf.scope>
	<compileSource>1.7</compileSource>
	<maven.compiler.target>1.7</maven.compiler.target>
	<maven.compiler.source>1.7</maven.compiler.source>
	<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
</properties>

<dependencies>
	<!-- apache cxf jax-ws 3.0.2 -->
	<dependency>
		<groupId>org.apache.cxf</groupId>
		<artifactId>cxf-rt-frontend-jaxws</artifactId>
		<version>${cxf.version}</version>
		<scope>${cxf.scope}</scope>
	</dependency>
	<dependency>
		<groupId>org.apache.cxf</groupId>
		<artifactId>cxf-rt-transports-http</artifactId>
		<version>${cxf.version}</version>
		<scope>${cxf.scope}</scope>
	</dependency>

	<!-- spring framework 4.1.0 -->
	<dependency>
		<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
		<artifactId>spring-web</artifactId>
		<version>${spring.version}</version>
		<scope>compile</scope>
	</dependency>

</dependencies>

Folks who aren’t familiar with Maven concepts or don’t require maven for their project, can download the below jars individually from the central repository or maven repository or maven2 and include them in the classpath

Steps to generate Java artifacts from WSDL/XSD

  • write/design XML Schema (XSD)
  • similarly, write/design WSDL document including above XSD for Type attributes
  • configure maven plugins (wsimport/wsdl2java goal) in pom.xml with correct and complete path of the wsdl file under wsdlOptions/wsdlOption
  • Run maven command “mvn generate-sources” from project’s context-root
  • java artifacts will be generated under “generated” folder within specified targetNamespace

1_Metro-JAX-WS-Top-Down_web_service_resources

Let us understand above steps in more detail

Write/design well-formed XML Schema

Book.xsd (src/main/resources/com/jaxws/series/top/down/approach/entities)

Below XSD contains two elements with name “BookRequestType” and “BookResponseType

  • BookRequestType contains single string called isbnNumber
  • BookResponseType contains four sub-elements namely bookISBN, bookName, author and category
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
	targetNamespace="http://benchresources.in/entities/Book" xmlns:tns="http://benchresources.in/entities/Book"
	elementFormDefault="qualified">

	<!-- Book Request Type -->
	<xsd:element name="BookRequestType">
		<xsd:complexType>
			<xsd:sequence>
				<xsd:element name="isbnNumber" type="xsd:string" />
			</xsd:sequence>
		</xsd:complexType>
	</xsd:element>

	<!-- Book Response Type -->
	<xsd:element name="BookResponseType">
		<xsd:complexType>
			<xsd:sequence>
				<xsd:element name="bookISBN" type="xsd:string" />
				<xsd:element name="bookName" type="xsd:string" />
				<xsd:element name="author" type="xsd:string" />
				<xsd:element name="category" type="xsd:string" />
			</xsd:sequence>
		</xsd:complexType>
	</xsd:element>

</xsd:schema>

Write/design well-formed WSDL

BookService.wsdl (src/main/resources/com/jaxws/series/top/down/approach/services)

This is the contract document for Book Service exposing one operation called “getBookByISDNRequestNumber” whose input argument is “BookRequestType” and return type is “BookResponseType

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<wsdl:definitions xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/"
	xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/"
	targetNamespace="http://benchresources.in/services/BookService/"
	xmlns:tns="http://benchresources.in/services/BookService/" xmlns:book="http://benchresources.in/entities/Book"
	name="BookService">

	<wsdl:types>
		<xsd:schema targetNamespace="http://benchresources.in/services/BookService/">
			<xsd:import namespace="http://benchresources.in/entities/Book"
				schemaLocation="../entities/book.xsd" />
		</xsd:schema>
	</wsdl:types>

	<wsdl:message name="BookRequest">
		<wsdl:part element="book:BookRequestType" name="parameters" />
	</wsdl:message>
	<wsdl:message name="BookResponse">
		<wsdl:part element="book:BookResponseType" name="parameters" />
	</wsdl:message>

	<wsdl:portType name="IBookService">
		<wsdl:operation name="getBookByISDNRequestNumber">
			<wsdl:input message="tns:BookRequest" />
			<wsdl:output message="tns:BookResponse" />
		</wsdl:operation>
	</wsdl:portType>

	<wsdl:binding name="BookServiceSOAPBinding" type="tns:IBookService">
		<soap:binding style="document"
			transport="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/http" />
		<wsdl:operation name="getBookByISDNRequestNumber">
			<soap:operation soapAction="" />
			<wsdl:input>
				<soap:body use="literal" />
			</wsdl:input>
			<wsdl:output>
				<soap:body use="literal" />
			</wsdl:output>
		</wsdl:operation>
	</wsdl:binding>

	<wsdl:service name="BookService">
		<wsdl:port name="BookServicePort" binding="tns:BookServiceSOAPBinding">
			<soap:address
				location="http://localhost:8080/Metro-JAX-WS-Top-Down/services/BookService" />
		</wsdl:port>
	</wsdl:service>
</wsdl:definitions>

Configure maven plugin in pom.xml (wsdl2java goal)

This plugin which defines wsdl2java goal from cxf-codegen-plugin generates java artifacts from the supplied WSDL file under resources folder

<!-- plugin 4- apache cxf codegen wsdl2java goal -->
<plugin>
	<groupId>org.apache.cxf</groupId>
	<artifactId>cxf-codegen-plugin</artifactId>
	<version>3.0.2</version>
	<executions>
		<execution>
			<configuration>
				<sourceRoot>${basedir}/generated/java/source</sourceRoot>
				<wsdlOptions>
					<wsdlOption>
						<wsdl>${basedir}/src/main/resources/com/jaxws/series/top/down/approach/services/BookService.wsdl
						</wsdl>
					</wsdlOption>
				</wsdlOptions>
			</configuration>
			<goals>
				<goal>wsdl2java</goal>
			</goals>
		</execution>
	</executions>
</plugin>

Run “mvn generate-sources”

Look at the generated java source files in the generated folder

After running above maven command, you will get to see below generated java files

2_Metro-JAX-WS-Top-Down_generated_java_artifacts

  • IBookService.java
  • BookRequestType.java
  • BookResponseType.java
  • BookService.java
  • ObjectFactory.java
  • package-info.java

BookRequestType.java

package in.benchresources.entities.book;

import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessType;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessorType;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlElement;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlType;

/**
 * <p>Java class for anonymous complex type.
 *
 * <p>The following schema fragment specifies the expected content contained within this class.
 *
 * <pre>
 * &lt;complexType>
 *   &lt;complexContent>
 *     &lt;restriction base="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}anyType">
 *       &lt;sequence>
 *         &lt;element name="isbnNumber" type="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}string"/>
 *       &lt;/sequence>
 *     &lt;/restriction>
 *   &lt;/complexContent>
 * &lt;/complexType>
 * </pre>
 *
 *
 */
@XmlAccessorType(XmlAccessType.FIELD)
@XmlType(name = "", propOrder = {
    "isbnNumber"
})
@XmlRootElement(name = "BookRequestType")
public class BookRequestType {

    @XmlElement(required = true)
    protected String isbnNumber;

    /**
     * Gets the value of the isbnNumber property.
     *
     * @return
     *     possible object is
     *     {@link String }
     *
     */
    public String getIsbnNumber() {
        return isbnNumber;
    }

    /**
     * Sets the value of the isbnNumber property.
     *
     * @param value
     *     allowed object is
     *     {@link String }
     *
     */
    public void setIsbnNumber(String value) {
        this.isbnNumber = value;
    }

}

BookResponseType.java

package in.benchresources.entities.book;

import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessType;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessorType;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlElement;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlType;

/**
 * <p>Java class for anonymous complex type.
 *
 * <p>The following schema fragment specifies the expected content contained within this class.
 *
 * <pre>
 * &lt;complexType>
 *   &lt;complexContent>
 *     &lt;restriction base="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}anyType">
 *       &lt;sequence>
 *         &lt;element name="bookISBN" type="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}string"/>
 *         &lt;element name="bookName" type="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}string"/>
 *         &lt;element name="author" type="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}string"/>
 *         &lt;element name="category" type="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}string"/>
 *       &lt;/sequence>
 *     &lt;/restriction>
 *   &lt;/complexContent>
 * &lt;/complexType>
 * </pre>
 *
 *
 */
@XmlAccessorType(XmlAccessType.FIELD)
@XmlType(name = "", propOrder = {
    "bookISBN",
    "bookName",
    "author",
    "category"
})
@XmlRootElement(name = "BookResponseType")
public class BookResponseType {

    @XmlElement(required = true)
    protected String bookISBN;
    @XmlElement(required = true)
    protected String bookName;
    @XmlElement(required = true)
    protected String author;
    @XmlElement(required = true)
    protected String category;

    /**
     * Gets the value of the bookISBN property.
     *
     * @return
     *     possible object is
     *     {@link String }
     *
     */
    public String getBookISBN() {
        return bookISBN;
    }

    /**
     * Sets the value of the bookISBN property.
     *
     * @param value
     *     allowed object is
     *     {@link String }
     *
     */
    public void setBookISBN(String value) {
        this.bookISBN = value;
    }

    /**
     * Gets the value of the bookName property.
     *
     * @return
     *     possible object is
     *     {@link String }
     *
     */
    public String getBookName() {
        return bookName;
    }

    /**
     * Sets the value of the bookName property.
     *
     * @param value
     *     allowed object is
     *     {@link String }
     *
     */
    public void setBookName(String value) {
        this.bookName = value;
    }

    /**
     * Gets the value of the author property.
     *
     * @return
     *     possible object is
     *     {@link String }
     *
     */
    public String getAuthor() {
        return author;
    }

    /**
     * Sets the value of the author property.
     *
     * @param value
     *     allowed object is
     *     {@link String }
     *
     */
    public void setAuthor(String value) {
        this.author = value;
    }

    /**
     * Gets the value of the category property.
     *
     * @return
     *     possible object is
     *     {@link String }
     *
     */
    public String getCategory() {
        return category;
    }

    /**
     * Sets the value of the category property.
     *
     * @param value
     *     allowed object is
     *     {@link String }
     *
     */
    public void setCategory(String value) {
        this.category = value;
    }

}

IBookService.java

package in.benchresources.services.bookservice;

import javax.jws.WebMethod;
import javax.jws.WebParam;
import javax.jws.WebResult;
import javax.jws.WebService;
import javax.jws.soap.SOAPBinding;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlSeeAlso;

/**
 * This class was generated by Apache CXF 3.0.2
 * 2014-11-18T01:45:16.702+05:30
 * Generated source version: 3.0.2
 *
 */
@WebService(targetNamespace = "http://benchresources.in/services/BookService/", name = "IBookService")
@XmlSeeAlso({in.benchresources.entities.book.ObjectFactory.class})
@SOAPBinding(parameterStyle = SOAPBinding.ParameterStyle.BARE)
public interface IBookService {

    @WebMethod
    @WebResult(name = "BookResponseType", targetNamespace = "http://benchresources.in/entities/Book", partName = "parameters")
    public in.benchresources.entities.book.BookResponseType getBookByISDNRequestNumber(
        @WebParam(partName = "parameters", name = "BookRequestType", targetNamespace = "http://benchresources.in/entities/Book")
        in.benchresources.entities.book.BookRequestType parameters
    );
}

package-info.java

@javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlSchema(namespace = "http://benchresources.in/entities/Book", elementFormDefault = javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlNsForm.QUALIFIED)
package in.benchresources.entities.book;

ObjectFactory.java

package in.benchresources.entities.book;

import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRegistry;

/**
 * This object contains factory methods for each
 * Java content interface and Java element interface
 * generated in the in.benchresources.entities.book package.
 * <p>An ObjectFactory allows you to programatically
 * construct new instances of the Java representation
 * for XML content. The Java representation of XML
 * content can consist of schema derived interfaces
 * and classes representing the binding of schema
 * type definitions, element declarations and model
 * groups.  Factory methods for each of these are
 * provided in this class.
 *
 */
@XmlRegistry
public class ObjectFactory {

    /**
     * Create a new ObjectFactory that can be used to create new instances of schema derived classes for package: in.benchresources.entities.book
     *
     */
    public ObjectFactory() {
    }

    /**
     * Create an instance of {@link BookResponseType }
     *
     */
    public BookResponseType createBookResponseType() {
        return new BookResponseType();
    }

    /**
     * Create an instance of {@link BookRequestType }
     *
     */
    public BookRequestType createBookRequestType() {
        return new BookRequestType();
    }

}

BookService.java

package in.benchresources.services.bookservice;

import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;
import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
import javax.xml.ws.WebEndpoint;
import javax.xml.ws.WebServiceClient;
import javax.xml.ws.WebServiceFeature;
import javax.xml.ws.Service;

/**
 * This class was generated by Apache CXF 3.0.2
 * 2014-11-18T01:45:16.739+05:30
 * Generated source version: 3.0.2
 *
 */
@WebServiceClient(name = "BookService",
                  wsdlLocation = "file:/D:/WORKSPACE/JAX-WS_WORKSPACE/ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down/src/main/resources/com/jaxws/series/top/down/approach/services/BookService.wsdl",
                  targetNamespace = "http://benchresources.in/services/BookService/")
public class BookService extends Service {

    public final static URL WSDL_LOCATION;

    public final static QName SERVICE = new QName("http://benchresources.in/services/BookService/", "BookService");
    public final static QName BookServicePort = new QName("http://benchresources.in/services/BookService/", "BookServicePort");
    static {
        URL url = null;
        try {
            url = new URL("file:/D:/WORKSPACE/JAX-WS_WORKSPACE/ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down/src/main/resources/com/jaxws/series/top/down/approach/services/BookService.wsdl");
        } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
            java.util.logging.Logger.getLogger(BookService.class.getName())
                .log(java.util.logging.Level.INFO,
                     "Can not initialize the default wsdl from {0}", "file:/D:/WORKSPACE/JAX-WS_WORKSPACE/ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down/src/main/resources/com/jaxws/series/top/down/approach/services/BookService.wsdl");
        }
        WSDL_LOCATION = url;
    }

    public BookService(URL wsdlLocation) {
        super(wsdlLocation, SERVICE);
    }

    public BookService(URL wsdlLocation, QName serviceName) {
        super(wsdlLocation, serviceName);
    }

    public BookService() {
        super(WSDL_LOCATION, SERVICE);
    }

    //This constructor requires JAX-WS API 2.2. You will need to endorse the 2.2
    //API jar or re-run wsdl2java with "-frontend jaxws21" to generate JAX-WS 2.1
    //compliant code instead.
    public BookService(WebServiceFeature ... features) {
        super(WSDL_LOCATION, SERVICE, features);
    }

    //This constructor requires JAX-WS API 2.2. You will need to endorse the 2.2
    //API jar or re-run wsdl2java with "-frontend jaxws21" to generate JAX-WS 2.1
    //compliant code instead.
    public BookService(URL wsdlLocation, WebServiceFeature ... features) {
        super(wsdlLocation, SERVICE, features);
    }

    //This constructor requires JAX-WS API 2.2. You will need to endorse the 2.2
    //API jar or re-run wsdl2java with "-frontend jaxws21" to generate JAX-WS 2.1
    //compliant code instead.
    public BookService(URL wsdlLocation, QName serviceName, WebServiceFeature ... features) {
        super(wsdlLocation, serviceName, features);
    }    

    /**
     *
     * @return
     *     returns IBookService
     */
    @WebEndpoint(name = "BookServicePort")
    public IBookService getBookServicePort() {
        return super.getPort(BookServicePort, IBookService.class);
    }

    /**
     *
     * @param features
     *     A list of {@link javax.xml.ws.WebServiceFeature} to configure on the proxy.  Supported features not in the <code>features</code> parameter will have their default values.
     * @return
     *     returns IBookService
     */
    @WebEndpoint(name = "BookServicePort")
    public IBookService getBookServicePort(WebServiceFeature... features) {
        return super.getPort(BookServicePort, IBookService.class, features);
    }

}

 

Directory Structure

Before moving on, let us understand the directory/package structure once you create project and/plus after generating java artifacts in Eclipse IDE

Maven has to follow certain directory structure

  • src/test/java –> test related files, mostly JUnit test cases
  • src/main/java –> create java source files under this folder
  • generated/java/source –> generated java source files are placed here
  • src/main/resources –> all configuration files placed here
  • src/test/resources –> all test related configuration files placed here
  • Maven Dependencies or Referenced Libraries –> includes jars in the classpath
  • WEB-INF under webapp –> stores web.xml & other configuration files related to web application

Project Structure (Package Explorer view in Eclipse)

3_ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down_Project_Structure_In_Eclipse

Jar Libraries Used in the Project (Maven Dependencies)

4_ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down_Jars_In_classpath

Web application

For any web application, entry point is web.xml which describes how the incoming http requests are served / processed. Further, it describes about the global-context and local-context param (i.e.; <context-param> & <init-param>) for loading files particular to project requirements & contains respective listener

With this introduction, we will understand how we configured web.xml for Apache CXF JAX-WS SOAP based Web Service

web.xml (the entry point –> under WEB-INF)

This web.xml file describes,

  • Like any JEE web framework register “org.apache.cxf.transport.servlet.CXFServlet” with servlet container
  • http requests with URL pattern “/services/*” will be sent to the registered servlet called “CXFServlet” i.e.; (org.apache.cxf.transport.servlet.CXFServlet)
  • configure spring context loader listener for loading spring context files “org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener
  • <context-param> with its attributes describes the location of the “apache-cxf-service.xml” file from where it has to be loaded. We will discuss briefly about this file
  • configure session timeout in secs using <session-config> tag
  • <welcome-file-list> files under this tag is the start-up page

web.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app version="3.0" xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd">

	<display-name>ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down</display-name>

	<!-- Apache CXF servlet -->
	<servlet>
		<servlet-name>CXFServlet</servlet-name>
		<servlet-class>org.apache.cxf.transport.servlet.CXFServlet</servlet-class>
		<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
	</servlet>
	<servlet-mapping>
		<servlet-name>CXFServlet</servlet-name>
		<url-pattern>/services/*</url-pattern>
	</servlet-mapping>

	<!-- listener -->
	<listener>
		<listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
	</listener>

	<!-- web context param -->
	<context-param>
		<param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
		<param-value>WEB-INF/apache-cxf-services.xml</param-value>
	</context-param>

	<!-- session timeout -->
	<session-config>
		<session-timeout>60</session-timeout>
	</session-config>

	<!-- welcome file list -->
	<welcome-file-list>
		<welcome-file>index.html</welcome-file>
	</welcome-file-list>

</web-app>

 

Apache CXF services

Apache CXF comes with spring based configuration, so it is easy to register beans in the spring container much like we do any bean in spring application in addition to configuring JAX-WS endpoints and interceptors, etc

In CXF endpoint, we can define implementor i.e.; Java endpoint implementation class and address. So, incoming requests from “CXFServlet” servlet invokes corresponding implementation class with configured address-pattern

For more JAX-WS element details see here

This apache-cxf-services.xml describes,

  • < jaxws:endpoint /> defines which service implementation class to be invoked for the incoming http/https SOAP requests with address-pattern configured

NOTE: For two different beans we can have two different url-pattern (address) like

<jaxws:endpoint id="bookservice"
	implementor="com.jaxws.series.top.down.approach.service.BookServiceImpl"
	address="/book">
</jaxws:endpoint>

<jaxws:endpoint id="otherservice" 
        implementor="other.qualified.package.name"
	address="/other">
</jaxws:endpoint>

 

apache-cxf-services.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:jaxws="http://cxf.apache.org/jaxws"
	xmlns:jaxrs="http://cxf.apache.org/jaxrs" xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
	xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
	http://cxf.apache.org/jaxrs http://cxf.apache.org/schemas/jaxrs.xsd http://cxf.apache.org/jaxws http://cxf.apache.org/schemas/jaxws.xsd
	http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context.xsd
	http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util.xsd">

	<jaxws:endpoint id="bookservice"
		implementor="com.jaxws.series.top.down.approach.service.BookServiceImpl"
		address="/book">
	</jaxws:endpoint>

</beans>

 

Let’s see coding in action

 

URL Pattern

Http url for any common web application is http://<server>:<port>/<root-context>/<from_here_application_specific_path>

In our example, we are going to deploy the war into Tomcat 8.0 server, so our server and port are localhost and 8080 respectively. Context root is the project name i.e.; ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down. Initial path for this application is http://localhost:8080/ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down

We have configured “/services/*” as url-pattern for the “CXFServlet” servlet in web.xml and our business implementation class implements the portType interface generated from WSDL file which is annotated with @WebService annotation at class-level

 

Book Service Implementation (business logic)

This service provider class implements portType interface generated from WSDL file. Also, class annotated with @WebService annotation at class-level and this is very important

Always, keep a practice of defining most of the attributes of @WebService annotation if not all while developing top-down approach. Defining means providing values of the following attributes

  • serviceName (this is very important, as it defines/controls endpoint URL)
  • endpointInterface (this is mandatory)
  • targetNamespace (same as in the WSDL file)
  • portName (port value under <service> element)
  • name (optional)
  • wsdlLocation (optional)

BookServiceImpl.java

package com.jaxws.series.top.down.approach.service;

import in.benchresources.entities.book.BookRequestType;
import in.benchresources.entities.book.BookResponseType;
import in.benchresources.services.bookservice.IBookService;

import javax.jws.WebService;

import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;

@WebService(serviceName="BookService", endpointInterface="in.benchresources.services.bookservice.IBookService",
targetNamespace="http://benchresources.in/services/BookService/", portName="BookServicePort", name="BookServiceImpl")
public class BookServiceImpl implements IBookService {

	// http://localhost:8080/ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down/services/book/BookService?wsdl

	@Override
	public BookResponseType getBookByISDNRequestNumber(BookRequestType parameters) {

		// create object of responseType and set values & return
		BookResponseType bookResponseType = new BookResponseType();
		bookResponseType.setBookISBN(parameters.getIsbnNumber());
		bookResponseType.setBookName("Objective Microbiology");
		bookResponseType.setAuthor("S. Nandi");
		bookResponseType.setCategory("Microbiology");
		return bookResponseType;
	}
}

 

That’s all with coding part, now let us move on to deployment and testing

 

Apache Tomcat-8.0.15 Deployment

  • Run maven command to build the war: mvn clean install (use command prompt or integrated maven in eclipse IDE)
  • Copy(ctrl+c) the war file from the target folder)
  • Paste(ctrl+v) it into apache tomcat (webapps folder)
  • Start the tomcat server (Tomcat_Home\bin\startup.bat)

Oracle Weblogic server 12.1.1.0 Deployment

Apache CXF based JAX-WS web service can’t be deployed directly into Oracle WebLogic server as WAR file –> it’s a two step process. First build a WAR file and then package this WAR file into an EAR file –> Deploy EAR file into weblogic server

See this article for explanation: Packaging WAR as EAR

Steps to be followed

  • Run maven command to build the war: mvn clean install (use command prompt or integrated maven in eclipse IDE)
  • Once you see “BUILD SUCCESS” after running maven command, it means your war file is successfully built and installed in the local maven repository
  • Package this WAR file into an EAR file as explained in this article
  • Start weblogic 12c application server and hit the URL http://localhost:7001/console in any of the latest web browser and enter username/password you configured while setting up weblogic 12c server
  • Go to Deployments –> click install button –> browse through EAR file location –> say Next –> say Next –> Finish

For Oracle WebLogic 12c server Installation steps see here

Test the service !!

Testing

There are many ways to do testing

  • SOAP UI Client
  • Java Client using JDK’s in-built classes like HttpURLConnection
  • Java Client using SOAP API
  • Eclipse’s Web Services Explorer
  • Write your own client for example, Java client using httpcomponents from Apache

We will cover first 2 ways of testing above JAX-WS deployed service

1. SOAP UI Client

Load the endpoint URL in SOAP UI Client, which will pre-populate the request XML based on the operation deployed/exposed using WSDL

For example, http://localhost:8080/ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down/services/book/BookService?wsdl

Request XML

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
	xmlns:book="http://benchresources.in/entities/Book">
	<soapenv:Header />
	<soapenv:Body>
		<book:BookRequestType>
			<book:isbnNumber>ISBN-2134</book:isbnNumber>
		</book:BookRequestType>
	</soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>

Response XML

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
	<soap:Body>
		<BookResponseType xmlns="http://benchresources.in/entities/Book">
			<bookISBN>ISBN-2134</bookISBN>
			<bookName>Objective Microbiology</bookName>
			<author>S. Nandi</author>
			<category>Microbiology</category>
		</BookResponseType>
	</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

5_ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down_SOAP_UI_Testing

 

 

2. Java client

For this java client to work/execute, we don’t need to add any extra jars or any new dependency in pom.xml as these classes comes shipped along with JDK. Observe, import statements closely for this client

Note: Request XML pattern formed taking help from pre-populated request XML from SOAP UI client as explained above

TestBookService.java

package test.jaxws.series.top.down.approach.service;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.URL;

public class TestBookService {

	/**
	 * Apache CXF - JAX-WS top-down web service approach
	 * main() method to test/start soap web service
	 * @param args
	 * @throws IOException
	 */
	public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {

		String httpRequestURL = "http://localhost:8080/ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down/services/book/BookService?wsdl";
		String soapRequestParam = 	"<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv=\"http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/\" xmlns:book=\"http://benchresources.in/entities/Book\">"
				+						"<soapenv:Header/>"
				+						"<soapenv:Body>"
				+							"<book:BookRequestType>"
				+								"<book:isbnNumber>ISBN-3245</book:isbnNumber>"
				+							"</book:BookRequestType>"
				+						"</soapenv:Body>"
				+					"</soapenv:Envelope>";
		String responseString = testBookService(httpRequestURL, soapRequestParam);
		System.out.println("Response String : " + responseString);
	}

	/**
	 * This method uses HttpURLConnection to invoke exposed SOAP web service and returns the response string to the calling client
	 *
	 * @param httpRequestURL
	 * @param requestXmlParam
	 * @return responseXML
	 * @throws IOException
	 */
	public static String testBookService(String httpRequestURL, String requestXmlParam) throws IOException {

		// local variables
		URL url = null;
		HttpURLConnection httpURLConnection = null;
		OutputStreamWriter outputStreamWriter = null;
		String responseMessageFromServer = null;
		String responseXML = null; 

		try {
			// set basic request parameters
			url = new URL(httpRequestURL);
			httpURLConnection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
			httpURLConnection.setDoOutput(true);
			httpURLConnection.setRequestMethod("POST");
			//			httpURLConnection.setRequestProperty("SOAPAction", "");
			httpURLConnection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "text/xml");
			httpURLConnection.setRequestProperty("Accept", "text/xml");

			// write request XML to the HTTP request
			outputStreamWriter = new OutputStreamWriter(httpURLConnection.getOutputStream());
			outputStreamWriter.write(requestXmlParam);
			outputStreamWriter.flush();

			System.out.println("Response code: " + httpURLConnection.getResponseCode());
			if (httpURLConnection.getResponseCode() == 200) {

				responseMessageFromServer = httpURLConnection.getResponseMessage();
				System.out.println("ResponseMessageFromServer: " + responseMessageFromServer);
				responseXML = getResponseXML(httpURLConnection);
			}
		}
		catch (IOException ioex) {
			ioex.printStackTrace();
			throw ioex;
		}
		finally{
			// finally close all operations
			outputStreamWriter.close();
			httpURLConnection.disconnect();
		}
		return responseXML;
	}

	/**
	 * This method is used to get response XML from the HTTP POST request
	 *
	 * @param httpURLConnection
	 * @return stringBuffer.toString()
	 * @throws IOException
	 */
	private static String getResponseXML(HttpURLConnection httpURLConnection) throws IOException {

		// local variables
		StringBuffer stringBuffer = new StringBuffer();
		BufferedReader bufferedReader = null;
		InputStreamReader inputStreamReader = null;
		String readSingleLine = null;

		try{
			// read the response stream AND buffer the result into a StringBuffer
			inputStreamReader = new InputStreamReader(httpURLConnection.getInputStream());
			bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(inputStreamReader);

			// reading the XML response content line BY line
			while ((readSingleLine = bufferedReader.readLine()) != null) {
				stringBuffer.append(readSingleLine);
			}
		}
		catch (IOException ioex) {
			ioex.printStackTrace();
			throw ioex;
		}
		finally{
			// finally close all operations
			bufferedReader.close();
			httpURLConnection.disconnect();
		}
		return stringBuffer.toString();
	}
}

Output in console

Response code: 200
ResponseMessageFromServer: OK
Response String : 
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
	<soap:Body>
		<BookResponseType xmlns="http://benchresources.in/entities/Book">
			<bookISBN>ISBN-3245</bookISBN>
			<bookName>Objective Microbiology</bookName>
			<author>S. Nandi</author>
			<category>Microbiology</category>
		</BookResponseType>
	</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

Conclusion: Thus, we have implemented & understood SOAP based Web Service implementation using Apache CXF reference implementation

This article proposes about top-down approach, whereas in the next article we will explore how much it is easy to implement bottom-up approach

Download project

ApacheCXF-JAX-WS-Top-Down (14kB)

Happy Coding !!
Happy Learning !!

Apache CXF JAX-WS: SOAP based Web Service using Bottom-Up approach