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To load the webservices server package, do:
package require WS::Server
This command will only load the server the first time it is used, so it causes no ill effects to put this in each file declaring a service or service procedure.
The Web Services package, WS::Server, is not a standalone application, but rather is designed to be a "module" of TclHttpd. The following command is normally placed in httpdthread.tcl:
To embed a Web Service into an application, the application needs to be event driven and you also need to use the WS::Embeded package. You also must define the service with the -mode=embedded option.
See also Embedding a Web Service into an application.
Apache Rivet is a module (mod_rivet) that can be loaded by Apache httpd server to allow web pages to run embedded Tcl commands in a way similar to PHP. To create a Web Service in Rivet, use the example EchoRivetService.rvt as a starting point by simply copying it into any directory served by your Apache instance. You should be able to immediately access that new location at the following URLs:
/path/to/EchoRivetService.rvt/doc
Displays an HTML page describing the service
/path/to/EchoRivetService.rvt/wsdl
Returns a WSDL describing the service
/path/to/EchoRivetService.rvt/op
Invoke an operation
If you would prefer to expose the published URLs of your service differently, you can use the standard Apache mod_rewrite or mod_alias modules to transparently map any other URL to those locations.
The code that defines a service is normally placed in one or more files in the custom directory.
Procedure Name : ::WS::Server::Service
Description : Declare a Web Service, the following URLs will exist
/service/<ServiceName>
Displays an HTML page describing the service
/service/<ServiceName>/wsdl
Returns a WSDL describing the service
/service/<ServiceName>/op
Invoke an operation
Arguments : this procedure uses position independent arguments, they are:
-host - The host name for this service.
Defaults to "ip:port" in embedded mode,
and to "localhost" otherwise."
-hostProtocol - Define the host protocol (http, https) for the
WSDL location URL. The special value "server"
(default) follows the TCP/IP server specification.
This is implemented for Embedded server
(switching to https if TLS is used) or tclhttpd,
where protocol and host is taken.
-description - The HTML description for this service
-htmlhead - The title string of the service description
-author - The author property in the service description
-xmlnamespace - Extra XML namespaces used by the service
-service - The service name (this will also be used for
the Tcl namespace of the procedures that implement
the operations.
-premonitor - This is a command prefix to be called before
an operation is called. The following arguments are
added to the command prefix:
PRE serviceName operationName operArgList
-postmonitor - This is a command prefix to be called after
an operation is called. The following arguments are
added to the command prefix:
POST serviceName operationName OK|ERROR results
-inheaders - List of input header types.
-outheaders - List of output header types.
-intransform - Inbound (request) transform procedure (2.0.3 and later).
The signature of the command must be:
cmd \
mode (REQUEST) \
xml \
notUsed_1 \
notUsed_2
-outtransform - Outbound (reply) transform procedure (2.0.3 and later).
The signature of the command must be:
cmd \
mode (REPLY) \
xml \
operation \
resultDict
-checkheader - Command prefix to check headers.
If the call is not to be allowed, this command
should raise an error.
The signature of the command must be:
cmd \
service \
operation \
caller_ipaddr \
http_header_list \
soap_header_list
-mode - Mode that service is running in. Must be one of:
tclhttpd -- running inside of tclhttpd or an
environment that supplies a
compatible Url_PrefixInstall
and Httpd_ReturnData commands
embedded -- using the ::WS::Embedded package
aolserver -- using the ::WS::AolServer package
wub -- using the ::WS::Wub package
wibble -- running inside wibble
rivet -- running inside Apache Rivet (mod_rivet)
-ports - List of ports for embedded mode. Default: 80
NOTE -- a call should be to
::WS::Embedded::Listen for each port
in this list prior to calling ::WS::Embeded::Start
-prefix - Path prefix used for the namespace and endpoint
Defaults to "/service/" plus the service name
-traceEnabled - Boolean to enable/disable trace being passed back in exception
Defaults to "Y"
-docFormat - Format of the documentation for operations ("text" or "html").
Defaults to "text"
-stylesheet - The CSS stylesheet URL used in the HTML documentation
-errorCallback - Callback to be invoked in the event of an error being produced
-verifyUserArgs - Boolean to enable/disable validating user supplied arguments
Defaults to "N"
-enforceRequired - Throw an error if a required field is not included in the
response.
Defaults to "N"
Returns : Nothing
Side-Effects : None
Exception Conditions :
MISSREQARG -- Missing required arguments
Pre-requisite Conditions : None
Procedure Name : ::WS::Server::ServiceProc
Description : Register an operation for a service and declare the procedure to handle the operations.
Arguments :
ServiceName -- Name of the service this operation is for
NameInfo -- List of two elements:
1) OperationName -- the name of the operation
2) ReturnType -- the type of the procedure return,
this can be a simple or complex type
Arglist -- List of argument definitions,
each list element must be of the form:
1) ArgumentName -- the name of the argument
2) ArgumentTypeInfo -- -- A list of:
{type typeName comment commentString}
typeName can be any simple or defined type.
commentString is a quoted string describing the field
Documentation -- HTML describing what this operation does
Body -- The tcl code to be called when the operation is invoked. This
code should return a dictionary with <OperationName>Result as a
key and the operation's result as the value.
Available simple types are:
Returns : Nothing
Side-Effects :
A procedure named "<ServiceName>::<OperationName>" defined A type name with the name <OperationName>Result is defined.
Exception Conditions : None
Pre-requisite Conditions : ::WS::Server::Server must have been called for the ServiceName