UCCX 8.x - a Really Simple SOAP Client (no custom JAR)

Gergely Szabo · ‎04-17-2012

Problem: it's a common task for a call center routing script to communicate with a remote procedure using the SOAP protocol, over HTTP. Usually, the script sends a piece of information to the SOAP server, parses the response, reads some useful data and then continues.

Analysis: Unfortunately, there is no built in step or method to create a simple SOAP client within a CRS script (and I don't blame the UCCX programmers for that). Some people use various frameworks (JAX-WS, Axis) to make SOAP calls easier, this usually requires an IDE like NetBeans or Eclipse, building a Java package, and uploading it - along with the framework itself - as custom JARs to the UCCX server. Personally, I don't really like that idea:

it makes debugging complicated;
if any change is needed, one must rebuild the whole solution, upload it to the UCCX server, restart the CCX engine - who likes this hassle;
I don't see the reason why we can't keep things simple and stupid - meaning, CRS scripts can do Java, and Java (at least Java 6 which comes with UCCX 8.x) can do everything you need to build a Really Simple SOAP Client.

UPDATE 1: if you are interested in a more OOP-style WS client (created with JAX-WS) read the following post:

https://supportforums.cisco.com/docs/DOC-26957.

UPDATE 2: I got a couple of comments and private messages about the CCX editor not accepting the second Set step due to one line:

return new String(baos.toByteArray());

This is a bug in some versions of UCCX. Unfortunately, for some reason it will sort of "hide" the Set step if it contains the above line. I don't know why it won't allow calling the toByteArray() method on a ByteArrayOutputStream object, this method is legal. Some versions of UCCX may accept it, some just won't. For instance, UCCX 8.0.2 happily accepts that method, UCCX 7.0SR5 does not.

If your UCCX is affected by the bug, then try replacing the above line with the following:

return baos.toString();

This has been tested and found working with UCCX Premium 7.0SR5 which does contain the bug, so the Set step disapperared with the original line but it did not with the replacement.

Solution: so, what is SOAP anyway?

In Plain English, it consists of:

creating an XML document;
SOAP Request: sending this XML document to the SOAP server. This is usually HTTP POSTing it to the web server;
read the SOAP response (this is an XML document, too);
parse the SOAP response and filter out the information we are looking for.

Looking at the tools the CCX editor offers for the above four tasks:

1. creating an XML document - easy. Two alternatives:

XML Template: you can upload an XML document on to the UCCX server, with some tokens; then, using the Keyword Transform Document step (where the already existing XML document will be the template), just replace the tokens with the desired values. That works just great if you don't want anything complicated and you are absolutely sure the result will also be a valid XML document (so there is no chance the Keyword Transform Document messes it up with some unexpected characters etc).
You can, of course, use Java to build the XML from scratch if you want to have more control. Personally, I like this option.

2. sending this XML document - now, one may say, there's the Create URL Document step, and it can do HTTP Post. Well, that's right, the step exists, it can sort of POST, but it's not the POST we are looking for. This step actually formats the value to be sent differently (application/x-www-form-urlencoded) which may or may not be accepted by the SOAP server. Java gives you more precise tools for that.

3. reading the SOAP response - this actually goes along with the previous step. But if we send something unacceptable to the SOAP server, we cannot expect a valid response either. Using Java gives you more granulated control.

4. parse the SOAP response and "fish out" the desired piece of information - easy. The Get XML Document Data step can operate with XPath expressions perfectly. So no Java code is needed.

**** DISCLAIMER: This is a proof of concept. I am not responsible for any damage, including the death of your favorite pet/rockstar. I cannot guarrantee this solution is the best, I cannot even guarrantee it would work in your system. Tested with IP IVR version 8.0(2) ****

I am going to explain the whole process using an example. Again, y u no build any packages, custom JARs. I don't even expect you to be fluent in Java.

In our not at all imaginary call center, there's a UCCX script that is supposed to do some routing decision based on a number which is calculated by some legacy systems, which speak SOAP only.

The expected SOAP request:

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">

<soapenv:Header/>

<soapenv:Body>

<mis:GetCallAggregates xmlns:mis="http://mis.report.pointers.cz/">

</mis:GetCallAggregates>

</soapenv:Body>

</soapenv:Envelope>

If everything goes fine, then the SOAP response is:

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">

<soap:Body>

<ns2:GetCallAggregatesResponse xmlns:ns2="http://mis.report.pointers.cz/">

<parameterName>AbandonIn30</parameterName>

</CallAggregate>

<parameterName>AbandonIn30</parameterName>

</CallAggregate>

<parameterName>BehindIVR</parameterName>

</CallAggregate>

<parameterName>BehindIVR</parameterName>

</CallAggregate>

</GetCallAggregatesResult>

</ns2:GetCallAggregatesResponse>

</soap:Body>

</soap:Envelope>

If we send something to the SOAP server and an error occurs, the SOAP response looks like this (I just inserted a bogus <boo> tag into the XML):

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">

<soap:Body>

<soap:Fault>

<faultcode>soap:Client</faultcode>

<faultstring>Unmarshalling Error: unexpected element (uri:"", local:"boo"). Expected elements are (none)</faultstring>

</soap:Fault>

</soap:Body>

</soap:Envelope>

Now, take a look at the request again:

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">

<soapenv:Header/>

<soapenv:Body>

<mis:GetCallAggregates xmlns:mis="http://mis.report.pointers.cz/">

</mis:GetCallAggregates>

</soapenv:Body>

</soapenv:Envelope>

As we can see, it's just a plain ordinary XML document (sans the XML declaration, for the sake of brevity). The so-called root element is soapenv:Envelope (its namespace in red, first row - expected by the SOAP server). The first child node is soapenv:Header; notice, it is empty - my SOAP server does not expect any headers. Then the soapenv:Body - this contains the next element, mis:GetCallAggregates (with the namespace URI in red, again), and this contains two elements, startDate and endDate (each containing a date and time string).

In other words, I am asking the SOAP server to run the GetCallAggregates method, with two parameters, startDate (its value is 2012-04-01T00:00:00) and endDate (its value is 2012-04-02T23:59:59). Actually, I am asking for some statistical information (CallAggregates) within the specified dates (1st April 2012 00:00:00, and 2nd April 2012 23:59:59).

This can be very easily constructed in Java, using only the tools Java 6 offers. And, as we know, Java 6 - more precisely, JDK 1.6 - is included in UCCX and if you have IP IVR or UCCX Enhanced or Premium, you can use it, most likely with Set steps.

Constructing XML in Java

First, I am going to create a new variable, type String, and name it soapRequest (initial value: null).

Then I am going to insert a Set step into my script, that would yield the value of the above soapRequest variable. The value field would be a closure (a block of Java code. Don't panic, I'll explain that, too!)

The source code I am using at this step (please note: // starts a line of comment):

{

// first, create a new buffer:

java.io.StringWriter buffer = new java.io.StringWriter();

// define namespace URI's and prefixes

// (take a look at the SOAP request XML above, you'll see there are two namespace prefix - URI pairs

final String SOAPENV_NAMESPACE_URI = "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/";

final String SOAPENV_NAMESPACE_PREFIX = "soapenv";

final String MIS_NAMESPACE_URI = "http://mis.report.pointers.cz/";

final String MIS_NAMESPACE_PREFIX = "mis";

// some of the following methods may throw an exception (~ error), so we want to wrap them

// into a try..catch block. Remember, if an exception occurs, the resulting value,

// thus the soapRequest variable will be null

try {

// create a document builder "factory" (that builds the document)

// make it namespace aware

// then crate a new document

javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory factory = javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();

factory.setNamespaceAware(true);

javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilder documentBuilder = factory.newDocumentBuilder();

org.w3c.dom.Document document = documentBuilder.newDocument();

// insert the "root" element (soapenv:Envelope), and introduce the required namespace:

org.w3c.dom.Element root = document.createElementNS(SOAPENV_NAMESPACE_URI, SOAPENV_NAMESPACE_PREFIX + ":Envelope");

root.setAttributeNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/", "xmlns:" + SOAPENV_NAMESPACE_PREFIX, SOAPENV_NAMESPACE_URI);

// create the header element (precisely: soapenv:Header)

// we are going to append it to the root element right away (since it should not contain anything)

org.w3c.dom.Element header = document.createElement("soapenv:Header");

root.appendChild(header);

// create the body (precisely: soapenv:Body) element:

org.w3c.dom.Element body = document.createElement("soapenv:Body");

// create another element, mis:GetCallAggregates, now with a different namespace, too:

org.w3c.dom.Element gca = document.createElementNS(MIS_NAMESPACE_URI, MIS_NAMESPACE_PREFIX + ":GetCallAggregates");

gca.setAttributeNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/", "xmlns:" + MIS_NAMESPACE_PREFIX, MIS_NAMESPACE_URI);

// and, create two other elements, startDate and endDate

// each contains a date-time string:

org.w3c.dom.Element startDate = document.createElement("startDate");

startDate.setTextContent("2012-04-01T00:00:00");

org.w3c.dom.Element endDate = document.createElement("endDate");

endDate.setTextContent("2012-04-02T23:59:59");

// adding startDate and endDate to mis:GetCallAggregates

gca.appendChild(startDate);

gca.appendChild(endDate);

// adding mis:GetCallAggregates to the soapenv:Body element

body.appendChild(gca);

// adding the soapenv:Body element to the root element (soapenv:Envelope)

root.appendChild(body);

// and then adding the root element to the document

document.appendChild(root);

// at this point, we've got the programmatic representation of XML

// but we need to transform it into a String so we can send it to the SOAP server

// this can be achieved, too: the source being the programmatic representation

// and the result is the buffer we specified on the first line

javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory transFactory = javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory.newInstance();

javax.xml.transform.Transformer transformer = transFactory.newTransformer();

javax.xml.transform.Source source = new javax.xml.transform.dom.DOMSource(document);

javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamResult result = new javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamResult(buffer);

transformer.transform(source, result);

} catch (Exception e) {

// again, if anything happens,the strack trace is sent to the standard output (stdout.log, most likely)

e.printStackTrace();

// and then null is returned

return null;

} // try..catch block ends here

// but if there are no problems, the buffer is cast into a String:

return buffer.toString();

} //closure ends here

I know, it might be overwhelming, but once you understand the basic concepts of XML, this code will also be easier to read.

So at this point, we've got the SOAP request XML document - held by the soapRequest variable.

Issuing the SOAP request, using Java

Again, we need to connect to the web server, in other words, to the endpoint, and using HTTP POST, send the XML document created above.

First, I am going to introduce three new variables:

soapResponseString, type String, initial value: null

soapResponseDoc, type Document, initial value: DOC[]

soapServiceEndpoint, type String, initial value is "http://10.232.108.15:8080/MIS/services/MISReport"

Just some more details on them: soapResponseString is the raw "string", sent by the SOAP server as response. Since the Get XML Document Data step can only operate on documents of which type is Document, we'll have to use a different variable, with the expected type, soapResponseDoc. And, as you might have guessed, the soapServiceEndpoint contains the URL of the SOAP Server endpoint.

Then, the Set step. The variable is the soapResponseString, and the value field contains another nice block of code again:

Source code (again, don't panic!):

{

// create a ByteArrayOutputStream - this is actually a buffer

// we are going to use to store the response coming from the SOAP server

java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream();

// this is quite unnecessary: assigning the value of the soapRequest (still holding our XML document)

// to another variable, named content, type String; but anyway, it's just cleaner

String content = soapRequest;

// specify a timeout - 5000 milliseconds - if the web server does not start sending back

// anything within this timeframe, an exception will be raised

int readTimeout = 5000;

// now, the following methods are enclosed by a try..catch block

// to catch any exceptions - we just want to have control over them

// remember, an uncaught exception might stop your CRS script execution

// and you might not want that

try {

// a new URL, which is the soapServiceEndpoint variable value (http://ip:port/ etc):

java.net.URL url = new java.net.URL(soapServiceEndpoint);

// creating a HTTP connection to the above URL:

java.net.HttpURLConnection urlCon = (java.net.HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();

// setting some important header parameters, first of all, content length, this is most likely expected

// by the SOAP server

urlCon.setFixedLengthStreamingMode(content.length());

// setting the timeout:

urlCon.setReadTimeout(readTimeout);

// we tell Java we will do input (in other words, we will read):

urlCon.setDoInput (true);

// we tell Java we will do output (in other words, we will send):

urlCon.setDoOutput (true);

// we tell Java not to cache:

urlCon.setUseCaches (false);

// we are using HTTP POST

urlCon.setRequestMethod("POST");

// finally, we set the Content-Type header,

// this way we are telling the SOAP server we are sending an XML, using the UTF-8 charset

urlCon.setRequestProperty("Content-Type","text/xml;charset=UTF-8");

// opening an OutputStream (this is a one-way channel towards the SOAP server:

java.io.DataOutputStream output = new java.io.DataOutputStream(urlCon.getOutputStream());

// we write the contents of the content variable (= soapRequest = XML document):

output.writeBytes(content);

// telling Java to flush "speed up!" and then close the stream:

output.flush();

output.close();

// now getting the InputStream (getting a one way channel coming from the SOAP server):

java.io.DataInputStream input = new java.io.DataInputStream(urlCon.getInputStream());

// buffered read from the InputStream, buffer size 4Kilobytes (= 4096 bytes):

// and the buffer is always written to the other buffer, named baos, that we specified

// on the first line of this block of code

int bufSize = 4096; // buffer size, bytes

byte[] bytesRead = new byte[bufSize];

int bytesReadLength = 0;

while(( bytesReadLength = input.read( bytesRead )) > 0 ) {

baos.write(bytesRead,0,bytesReadLength);

} //while block ends here

// closing the InputStream:

input.close();

// closing the baos buffer

baos.close();

} catch (Exception e) {

// again, if an error occurs, let's just send the stack trace to stdout (stdout.log)

// and then return null

e.printStackTrace();

return null;

} // try..catch block ends here

// construct a new String, and return that to the CRS script:

return new String(baos.toByteArray());

} // closure ends here

(N.B.: If your UCCX is affected by a strange bug - see UPDATE 2 - try replacing

return new String(baos.toByteArray());

with

return baos.toString();

)

There's still one more step, cast this soapResponseString to a Document. Notice the next step, the Get XML Document Data step expects the document be created by the Create XML Document step. But that's not a problem:

Voilá, we've got our SOAP response document. Again, it's something like this if everything goes perfectly:

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">

<soap:Body>

<ns2:GetCallAggregatesResponse xmlns:ns2="http://mis.report.pointers.cz/">

<parameterName>AbandonIn30</parameterName>

</CallAggregate>

<parameterName>AbandonIn30</parameterName>

</CallAggregate>

<parameterName>BehindIVR</parameterName>

</CallAggregate>

<parameterName>BehindIVR</parameterName>

</CallAggregate>

</GetCallAggregatesResult>

</ns2:GetCallAggregatesResponse>

</soap:Body>

</soap:Envelope>

And like this if something goes bad:

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">

<soap:Body>

<soap:Fault>

<faultcode>soap:Client</faultcode>

<faultstring>Unmarshalling Error: unexpected element (uri:"", local:"boo"). Expected elements are (none)</faultstring>

</soap:Fault>

</soap:Body>

</soap:Envelope>

Getting the desired value from the SOAP response XML document

For now, let's pretend everything went fine, there were no errors. I am interested in the value of the "value" element of the first CallAggregate element (where the date is 2012-04-01 and the "parameterName" is AbandonIn30):

We use the Get XML Document Data step for it (the result variable is named inString, type String, inital value: null):

The actual XPath expression:

"//CallAggregate[1]/value"

Of course, you might check whether there are any soap:Fault nodes, you can do that using the XPath expression //faultcode (for instance).

Check Wikipedia or w3schools for more XPath examples.

Conclusion: this is a simplistic approach, yet it works very well in a real environment.

Happy coding!

marks · ‎04-17-2012

Hi Gergely

This is great but one question if i may.

I had a situation where i had to create a bit of middleware to manipulate the responses sent back from the soap server so UCCX could understand them. You have not explained in this document how to handle the errors which i found the hardest part.

I have the solution working great now but i can see from what you have written here would have made my life a lot easier.

Mark

Gergely Szabo · ‎04-17-2012

Hi, that's a good point. Can you please tell me what error conditions are you interested in and I will try to incorporate some more explanation on them.

Thanks.

G.

Valber Carvalho · ‎04-18-2012

Congratulation Gergely!

This post is very helpful.

Valber

Muthurani Lavanya Paneerselvam · ‎05-31-2012

Congratulations Gergely for SPOT LIGHT Award ! Excellent document.

Regards

Lavanya

Technical Community Manager - Voice

kashifsurhio · ‎06-15-2012

Dear Gregly,

I had created custome Java Class to use SOAP Requests using IVR. My code is working fine when I call it from main function, but when I call the function from IVR Script at UCCX 8.5.1 I get following error:

system.io.IOException: Server returned HTTP response code 500 for url <url>

I had successfully tested my code from below machines/OS:

Windows XP, Windows7, RedHat Linux, Solaris

Please tell me that what could be the problem.

Below is the code:

public String[] BalanceInquiry( String sAccountNumber ) {

String sReturnVal[] = new String[4];

String soapResponse = "";

String soapRequestURL = "http://10.0.18.24/PhoenixWebService/Service1.asmx";

String soapRequestTXT = "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n" +

"<soap:Envelope xmlns:xsi=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance\" xmlns:xsd=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema\" xmlns:soap=\"http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/\">\n" +

" <soap:Body>\n" +

" <BalanceInquiry xmlns=\"http://tempuri.org/\">" +

" <accountNo>" + sAccountNumber + "</accountNo>" +

" </BalanceInquiry>" +

" </soap:Body>\n" +

"</soap:Envelope>";

try {

URL url = new URL(soapRequestURL);

URLConnection conn = url.openConnection();

conn.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "text/xml; charset=utf-8");

conn.setRequestProperty("Content-Length", "" + soapRequestTXT.length());

conn.setDoOutput(true);

OutputStreamWriter wr = new OutputStreamWriter(conn.getOutputStream());

wr.write(soapRequestTXT);

wr.flush();

BufferedReader rd = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(conn.getInputStream()));

String line = "";

while ((line = rd.readLine()) != null) {

soapResponse += line;

}

wr.close();

rd.close();

//if the everything went ok

if(readStatusResponseXML(soapResponse) == true)

{

//set status value

sReturnVal[0] = "true";

//get balance

sReturnVal[1] = readBalanceResponseXML(soapResponse);

//get complete response

sReturnVal[2] = soapResponse;

//Get Responce Statuas

sReturnVal[3] = readResponceValXML(soapResponse);//@Kashif

}

//else log the error here

else

{

//set status value

sReturnVal[0] = "false";

sReturnVal[1] = "";

sReturnVal[2] = soapResponse;

//Get Responce Status

sReturnVal[3] = readResponceValXML(soapResponse);//@Kashif

//TODO

//write logging code here

}

return sReturnVal;

} catch (Exception exception) {

sReturnVal[0] = exception.getMessage();

return sReturnVal;

}

Gergely Szabo · ‎06-18-2012

Hi,

I am afraid you are sending a malformed SOAP request, this is why the SOAP server throws an HTTP 500 (= Server error) message at you.

Try to take a look at the server logs of your SOAP server. HTTP 500 is something the server itself cannot deal with, but there's a chance it gives you some details why not.

G.

Kenan Muharemagic · ‎11-15-2012

Hi,

thanks for this doc... and the pointer to it on the supportforums... I am trying to adapt the java for my use case but since i am new to this i need some help...

This is a sample of my SOAP request...

<s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">

<s:Header>

<Action s:mustUnderstand="1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ws/2005/05/addressing/none">http://tempuri.org/IDeviceService/CreatePin</Action>

</s:Header>

<s:Body>

<CreatePin xmlns="http://tempuri.org/">

<UserID>1234567890123</UserID>

</CreatePin>

</s:Body>

</s:Envelope>

and the response:

<s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">

<s:Header/>

<s:Body>

</CreatePinResponse>

</s:Body>

</s:Envelope>

In your sample you have a "MIS" namespace... My request is a bit different, there is no "MIS" prefix, just the namespace for the CreatePin method...

I also have a header in the request... how much editing do i need to make this work? Should i consult someone with more expirience with Java since i have none?

The UserID is a dynamic param that is entered by the caller.

Thanx,

Kenan

Gergely Szabo · ‎11-15-2012

Hi,

well, actually, implementing SOAP is not for beginners, in any programming language.

About that "mis" namespace in the body: instead of using the document.createElementNS method, you can simply create an element using document.createElement and then set its atribute using the setAttributeNS method.

Dynamic parameter: for instance, if that user input is stored in a string variable, you can simply create a new element (createElement), and then use the setTextContent method to set its value.

About the SOAP header: well, it depends on the server implementation, but I would try to send a SOAP request without it. If it's not acceptable, simply create a new element, in this case, Action, and add it to the Header element as its child node.

Anyway, try it out in an IDE first, like Eclipse or Netbeans before you start experimenting with the UCCX.

HTH

G.

Kenan Muharemagic · ‎11-19-2012

Hi G,

thanks to your help the soap client is up and working flawlessly... i modified the soap request code a bit to make it more simple where instead of build the XML element by element i include the XML source and populate the dynamic tokens. The code is added bellow. If you have any recommendations I would be happy to hear them since I am new to this.

{

java.io.StringWriter buffer = new java.io.StringWriter();

try {

// Create the XML Source Document and insert the dynamic tokens

String xmlSource = "<s:Envelope xmlns:s='http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/'><s:Header><Action s:mustUnderstand='1' xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/ws/2005/05/addressing/none'>http://tempuri.org/WebService/CreatePin</Action></s:Header><s:Body><CreatePin xmlns='http://tempuri.org/'><UserID>" + JMBG + "</UserID></CreatePin></s:Body></s:Envelope>";

javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory factory = javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();

javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilder documentBuilder = factory.newDocumentBuilder();

org.w3c.dom.Document document = documentBuilder.newDocument();

// Read in the XML source Document

java.io.StringReader reader = new java.io.StringReader(xmlSource);

org.xml.sax.InputSource is = new org.xml.sax.InputSource(reader);

document = documentBuilder.parse(is);

javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory transFactory = javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory.newInstance();

javax.xml.transform.Transformer transformer = transFactory.newTransformer();

javax.xml.transform.Source source = new javax.xml.transform.dom.DOMSource(document);

javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamResult result = new javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamResult(buffer);

transformer.transform(source, result);

}

catch (Exception e) {

e.printStackTrace();

return e.getMessage();

}

return buffer.toString();

}

Again thanks for this guide and the help.

Kenan

Gergely Szabo · ‎11-19-2012

Hi,

well, I don't really see the point. The above code simply creates an XML and you return either some text if something goes wrong (the exception stack trace), or an empty StringWriter variable named buffer, since I don't see anything that writes its value. Are you sure you pasted the correct block of code? ;-)

G.

Kenan Muharemagic · ‎11-19-2012

Hi G,

I think you might have missed something, probably to the lack of code comments on my side...

// Read in the XML source Document

java.io.StringReader reader = new java.io.StringReader(xmlSource);

org.xml.sax.InputSource is = new org.xml.sax.InputSource(reader);

// Parse the is into a document

document = documentBuilder.parse(is);

//transform the document to source

javax.xml.transform.Source source = new javax.xml.transform.dom.DOMSource(document);

//transform the source to buffer

javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamResult result = new javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamResult(buffer);

transformer.transform(source, result);

Like i said i am new to this so tragic mistakes on my part would not surprise me... but this is tested and working so i must have got something right.

Gergely Szabo · ‎11-19-2012

Hi. Well, I now I see it. Sorry, I might need to get new glasses.

Anyway, to be absolutely honest with you, crafting an XML from a String (xmlSource) is not considered elegant. It works, as we see, but it's not elegant. But actually, Strings may give you better readability, if it's a simple XML (and in this case, it really is), and they might be a bit faster (and StringBuffers or StringBuilders may be even faster). So it's really arguable in this case whether or not to go the elegant way or the simple way.

About exception handling: remember, e.printStackTrace() writes to standard output, which is in our case, catalina.out (UCCX runs within the Apache Tomcat container). So if you want to read the exception generated stack trace, you might need to go and browse through that file.

A second note about exception handling: I don't see your script as a whole, but since you return the exception message (return e.getMessage()) in case an Exception is thrown, then you should have a mechanism that checks whether the returned string is an XML or just an error message. But I assume you already have that :-)

Did you already try this in UCCX, as a whole, including sending/receiving SOAP messages?

G.

Kenan Muharemagic · ‎11-22-2012

Thanks again for the reply. I just got a chance to test this today on UCCX. The web server responds with an Error 400 - Bad request.

the return e.GetMessage is temp for testing.

I am looking into this right now. You wouldnt happen to know where the catalina log is located would you?

Gergely Szabo · ‎11-22-2012

Hi,

can you just grab SoapUI and simulate a SOAP request and see the response?

I am afraid you are constructing an invalid XML and this is why the SOAP server sends that error code.

Try reactive debugging of the UCCX script, you'll be able to see the XML (as the value of the SoapRequest variable).

G.

Kenan Muharemagic · ‎11-29-2012

Hi G,

Sorry for the delay with reply... just got the chance to test this again today.

Grabed soapUI, imported the wsdl and the requests the soapUI generated differed from the ones i was given by the ws developers. I substituted the above xmlSource with the request from soapUI and all works fine... almost all... i am trying to extract the PIN value from the XML Document with Get XML Doc Data but am having some problems with it... I'll figure it out.

Thanks again for all your help.