RE: RPG as a Web Service Consumer

["Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: Bartell, Aaron L. (TC)
> 
> Reason being is that if you have some decent sized
> XML docs that need parsing a serializing you have to do that all by
hand.
> Not to mention all of the utilities you have to build to document
> transaction as they come and leave your iSeries.

Well, I have my own XML generation and parsing routines, so that's not a
big issue (except for the fact that I'd really like to avoid encoding
the stupid SOAP document that goes TO the server, and take advantage of
the simple HTTP request format Narayanan uses).


> Joe, I know you are a big proponent for using the right tool for the
job,
> and RPG isn't on the top of the list of right tools to do web
services.
> Let
> RPG do the business logic and leave it at that.  Move that Java line a
> little more into the RPG camp and take over this functionality you are
> proposing.

Thanks for the input, Aaron, and I am in fact doing just that... for
now.  I am going to implement the web service client as Java.

But that sort of ignores a larger point: if I just want to send a simple
text message to a service and get a message in response, and web
services are so complicated that I can't do that easily in RPG, then web
services are too complicated.  There needs to be a simpler interface for
people who don't need all the bells and whistles of SOAP.

Joe