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Exposing a Business Service as a Web Service

The following statements can be applied to business services consumed as Web services:

• Business service methods are Web service operations.
• Business service method arguments are Web service methods.

You can make business services available through the following means:

Classifying Business Service State Requirements in Siebel Tools

• Most Siebel Web service operations are classified as Stateless. In the Siebel Tools Object List editor, under business service, you can determine state requirements.
  • Stateless means that each Web service operation exists independently of any other.
  • Stateful means that Siebel Object Manager context must be maintained and correlated from one Web service operation invocation to the next.
• If a Web service operation is classified as Stateful, then the application data needs to be retained by the Siebel Server between method calls to determine whether the service could be made logically stateless.
• If a business service is either Stateless, or Server Managed, then it must be classified as Server Managed. When a Web service operation is classified as Server Managed, the business service can participate in either a Stateless or a Stateful Web service exchange. When Stateless is chosen, a business service cannot be enlisted at run time for participation in a Stateful exchange.

  NOTE:  At run time, the encoding of the SOAP header determines whether an operation is Stateful, Stateless, or Server Managed. For more information, see Siebel Web UI Dynamic Developer Kit Guide on the Siebel Bookshelf.

Registering Public Methods in Siebel Tools

• Specify the complete input and output arguments for each of these methods.
• If any of the arguments are a property set hierarchy, then do the following:
  • Define the property set structure as an integration object in Siebel Tools.
  • Specify the data type for this argument as Hierarchy and associate with integration objects.
  • To specify whether an argument appears in the input operation and or the output operation, use the Business Service Method Args Type column. Choose Input, Input/Output, or Output to direct the use of the argument in generating the WSDL.
• Once the preceding configuration steps in Siebel Tools are complete, and the SRF has been compiled and deployed, continue creating a Web service definition for this business service in Siebel Business Applications.
  • In the Administration - Web Services screen, Inbound Web Services view, configure the business service in the Service Ports list, create a service operation or operations in the Operations view and designate the business service method to execute.
  • Create a new Web service or choose an existing Web service in the Inbound Web Services view. Enter the WSDL XML namespace here.
  • Create a record in the Service Ports view, choose the business service in the Business Service/Business Process name column, set the Transport and URL, and select SOAP_DOC_LITERAL in the Binding column.
  • Create a service operation in the Operations view, set the WSDL operation name in the Operation Name column, and designate the Business Service method as the Siebel method to execute in the 'Method Display Name' column. Operations are mapped in Operations applet.

NOTE:  The Siebel Inbound Web Service Dispatcher is set up with a name resolution mechanism that requires entries in the Operation Name field to be unique within a Siebel database instance. Generally, this uniqueness requirement can be simplified by combining the Service Name with the Method Display Name.

Deploying a Business Service as a Web Service

You deploy business services as Web services in Siebel Tools. To be deployed, a business service must have at least one accessible method that is supported in Siebel inbound Web services. The business service must include a valid integration object name for any hierarchical argument. The following procedure explains how to deploy a business service as a Web service.

To deploy a business service as a Web service

1. In the Siebel Tools Object Explorer, select the Business Service object.

   The Business Services list appears.

2. In the Object List Editor, right-click the business service to deploy, and then choose Deploy as Web Service.
3. Specify the following in the dialog box, and then click Finish:
   • Business Service methods to make available. The operation names for the business service methods are system generated. To edit an operation name, click it in the list.
   • URL for Web service. Replace webserver with a valid host name and lang with a valid language code, such as ENU.
   • Generate WSDL checkbox. To generate a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) file, click the checkbox, and then choose a location to save the WSDL file.

     The business service is deployed. Deployed business services are shown in the Administration - Business Services screen in the Siebel client. Deployed Web services are shown in the Administration - Inbound Web Services view.

     For more information about deploying business services as Web services, see Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration on the Siebel bookshelf.