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Consume a Simple Web Service

Last modified: March 22, 2024

1 Introduction

Mendix is the app platform for the enterprise, and in enterprise software, it is not likely that you work in a greenfield project. In almost every situation, you will need to integrate with existing systems. Mendix supports many ways of integrating, and this how-to focuses on how you can consume web services with Mendix.

For this how-to, you will be using an example web service of W3Schools. Please note that this is a very simple web service that converts temperatures from Celsius to Fahrenheit and vice versa. The converted temperature will be returned as a string value that can be stored in a variable directly. If you want to invoke a web service that returns a complex XML message, you can use the XML-to-domain mappings explained in How to Import XML Documents.

This how-to teaches you how to do the following:

  • Import a WSDL
  • Create logic to call the web service

2 Importing a WSDL

A WSDL describes the operations of a web service and can be imported in the Modeler. After importing the WSDL, you can invoke the operations of the web service instantly within the microflow editor.

To import a WSDL, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click your module in the Project Explorer and select Add > Consumed services> > Consumed web service:

  2. Enter a name for the new consumed web service (for example, TemperatureConverter):

  3. Click OK again. You will now see the Consumed Web Service wizard. Enter https://www.w3schools.com/xml/tempconvert.asmx?wsdl as the URL, and then click Import.

  4. This will bring up the Select Ports dialog box asking you to select a web service port:

  5. Click OK to select the default. The Modeler should now import these operations: CelsiusToFahrenheit and FahrenheitToCelsius.

  6. Click OK to save the consumed web service.

3 Creating Logic to Call the Web Service

To create logic to call the web service, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click your module in the Project Explorer and select Add > Microflow from the menu:

  2. Enter a name for the new microflow (for example, ConvertCelsiusToFahrenheit).

  3. Click OK. You will now see an empty microflow:

  4. Open the Toolbox (from the lower-right corner of the Modeler) and drag a Create variable activity to the line between the start and end event.

  5. Double-click the new activity to open the Create Variable properties editor.

  6. Select Integer/Long as the Data Type, enter 100 as the value, and enter TemperatureInCelsius as the Output Variable Name:

  7. Click OK. The microflow will look like this:

  8. Drag a Call web service activity from the toolbox to the line between the start and end event. This inserts a new activity.

  9. In the Call Web Service properties editor, click Select and select the CelsiusToFahrenheit for the Operation of your consumed web service:

  10. In the Location section for this operation , click the Override location box. You are doing this in order to use the secure location of the web service.

  11. Click Edit to override the location and change http to https for the URL in the Location editor.

  12. In the SOAP Request Body tab of the Call Web Service properties editor, double-click the Celsius (optional) input parameter and enter toString($TemperatureInCelsius) for the expression. The web service operation expects a string value, which is why you need to use the toString function.

    Then click OK.

  13. On the SOAP Response tab, select Yes for the Store in variable option, and enter TemperatureInFahrenheit for the Name:

  14. Click OK. The microflow will look like this:

  15. Drag a Show message activity from the Toolbox to the line before the end event.

  16. Double-click the new activity to open the Show Message properties editor.

  17. Select Information as the Type, and enter The temperature in fahrenheit is: {1} for the Template. The {1} functions as a placeholder for the parameters.

  18. Create a new parameter and enter $TemperatureInFahrenheit for the expression (this is the return value of the web service operation), then click OK:

  19. Click OK again to save the Show message activity properties. The microflow will look like this:

  20. Create a menu item that triggers this microflow. For details on how to create a menu item, see How to Set Up the Navigation Structure.

  21. Deploy the application and trigger the microflow to call the web service operation. You should see a message with the converted temperature.

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