Need help connecting to WSDL for first time

I have a task to create Java code to connect and retrieve results using a WSDL on a remote server. I hava a valid URL, username and password.

I am new to the world of web services. I understand the theory. I am unsure of the implementation. I am using Java 6, Tomcat 5.5, Axis 2, Eclipse 3.4.1, and MyEclipse 5.

I have successfully used the MyEclipse Web Services Explorer to connect to the service and obtain results (By doing this I learned that the service is valid, authentication worked and it is not blocked.)

I have read a mountain of information and tried a few different things. The latest and most promising test was using WSDL2Java. (Eclipse Plugin) It generated 12000+ lines of code that was buggy. I added in the jars to remove the errors, but I am stuck on where to go from here.

Any assistance would be appreciated. I am so stuck. If you need more input from me, just ask, I will gladly provide it.

Thanks in advance,
Lori

Welcome to JavaRanch

Given that you are using Java 6 there shouldn't be a need to use Axis2. You could simply use Java API for XML Web Services the (JAX-WS) wsimport to generate a consumer web service proxy for you. To keep things simple I'd start with a simple console/command line program to figure out how the proxy works - the proxy generated can be used in a servlet/JSP.

Some simple examples
GeoIP
StockQuote
Xslt2Xml

Thanks for the information! I have an error using wsimport. It says:

[ERROR] Failed to read the WSDL document: <URL>, because 1) could not find the document; /2) the document could not be read; 3) the root element of the document is not <wsdl:definitions>. unknown location

I know that it is a valid WSDL. Could it be because of the authentication parameters? Also, any idea why my version of wsimport not list the -Xauthfile option (among others)?

Thanks again!
Lori

Lori Burzynski wrote:I know that it is a valid WSDL.

If all else fails use a browser to save the WSDL as a file and then run wsimport against the file.
As to the "authentication" - a username and password can be used in a variety of ways - so far you haven't mentioned the form of authentication that you are using.

Lori Burzynski wrote:Also, any idea why my version of wsimport not list the -Xauthfile option (among others)?

Early JDK 1.6 distributed with JAX-WS 2.0. Starting with update 4 it distributed with JAX-WS 2.1. The link refers to JAX-WS 2.1.5.

Thanks! I will update java6.

Peer Reynders wrote:As to the "authentication" - a username and password can be used in a variety of ways - so far you haven't mentioned the form of authentication that you are using.

I really do not know what "form" of authentication is used. It is handled by the remote server. If I open the file in the browser I am prompted for username/password. I am also prompted for the username/password in the web services explorer. (By the way, the URL is https.)

Thanks again for the help!

Lori Burzynski wrote:I really do not know what "form" of authentication is used. It is handled by the remote server. If I open the file in the browser I am prompted for username/password.

That is HTTP Basic Authentication. (Usually WS-Security is used with SOAP web services but it isn't universally supported by all SOAP stacks.)

That means you'll have to set the USERNAME_PROPERTY and PASSWORD_PROPERTY on the BindingProvider. See A little bit about Message Context in JAX-WS

Lori Burzynski wrote:(By the way, the URL is https.)

In that case you also need to set up a client trust store that contains the server's certificate - otherwise the Java client will refuse to establish a secure connection with the server. Some browser's like FireFox let you export the server's certifcate.

Using JAX-WS-based Web Services with SSL: Set Up the Client Truststore and Keystore
Axis2: Accessing Web Service via SSL

I am using Java 1.6 with update 5. When I check the "wsimport -version" it states that I am using "JAX-WS RI 2.1.1 in JDK 6". So why does it not list the options, such as "Xauthfile"?

(I even downloaded and installed the JAX-WS 2.1.1 again to make sure I had a complete version.)

Thanks in advance - again for any help!
Lori

Lori Burzynski wrote:"JAX-WS RI 2.1.1 in JDK 6". So why does it not list the options, such as "Xauthfile"?

That parameter wasn't introduced until JAX-WS 2.1.3.

JAX-WS RI 2.1.5 download page
Running on JDK6