Flex to .Net via Flex Data Services - Part Two

In part two of this series I will focus on creating java classes that consume .net webservices. Again, I just want to warn the java savvy folks out there that some of the things I cover are just common sense, and that this is geared more towards folks who have never touched java.

To complete this exercise you will need to download and install the following:

• The Java JDK
into C:\java\jdk1.5.0_09

• Apache Axis 1.4
into c:\java\axis-1_4

• Apache Ant
into c:\java\ant

Create a working directory. In this directory create a batch file called run.bat and paste the following text in and save (be sure to remove any linebreaks from the last 3 lines).

set AXIS_HOME=C:\Java\axis-1_4
set ANT_HOME=C:\Java\ant
set JAVA_HOME=C:\java\jdk1.5.0_09\
path = %path%;c:\java\ant\bin;c\java\jkd1.5.0_09\bin;
set CLASSPATH=.;%AXIS_HOME%\lib\axis.jar;%AXIS_HOME%\lib\commons-discovery-0.2.jar;%AXIS_HOME%\lib\commons-logging-1.0.4.jar;%AXIS_HOME%\lib\jaxrpc.jar;%AXIS_HOME%\lib\saaj.jar;%AXIS_HOME%\lib\wsdl4j-1.5.1.jar


This batch file will need to be run each time you open a command prompt. Alternatively, if you are going to be doing this alot, you can add these variables and paths to your Environment Variables.

Next you will need to create another file called build.xml in the same folder, with the following text:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- Build file for our first application -->
<project name="Ant test project" default="build" basedir=".">
<target name="build" >
<javac srcdir="." destdir="." debug="true" includes="**/*.java"/>
</target>
</project>

I'm not going to spend a great deal of time explaining the structure of this file or on how Ant works... my brother, a java guru, was kind enough to help out with this. Because I'm not using any Java IDE yet, I have to use Ant to compile my classes for me. This is the simplest build file I could muster, and it basically tells Ant to compile all my java source code into .class files, and put them in the same folder.

Finally we're ready to start playing with the webservice. Open a command prompt window and navigate to your working folder. You will need to have completed and successfully tested thet .net Webservice in Part One before you can continue here. Type in:
java org.apache.axis.wsdl.WSDL2Java http://localhost/WebService1/Service1.asmx?WSDL
and hit enter. You might see some warnings but no errors. Please ensure the URL of the webservice coincides with your own configuration!

If the command worked... you should now see a new folder structure in your working folder, called org/tempuri. Using Explorer, take a look inside the folder and you will see a bunch of .java files. These build the core classes for accessing your .net webservice. The next step is to build a java console application that will use these classes to call a webservice method. Create a text file in the org\tempuri\ folder called GetEmployees.java and paste in the following code:

package org.tempuri;
import java.util.*;
public class GetEmployees{
     public static void main(String [] args){
           try{ 
        Employee[] employees;
 Service1Locator sloc = new Service1Locator();
  Service1Soap sport = sloc.getService1Soap();
 employees = sport.getEmployees();
 System.out.println("Number of Records: " + employees.length);
 List list = Arrays.asList(employees);   
 for (int i=0; i<employees.length; i++ ){
  System.out.println(employees[i].getLastName());
 }
          }
          catch(Exception e){
               System.out.println(e.getMessage());}
   }
} 

Save this file, then go back to your command prompt window and type in Ant, hit Enter. Hopefully you will see the words "BUILD SUCCESSFUL". Finally let's test out our little java application. Type in java org.tempuri.GetEmployees. You should see a list of lastnames. If so, then you have successfully completed part 2.

I would like to mention that even doing this a 3rd time myself I still encountered a multitude of errors. If you do have problems, just post it here and I'll help as best I can.