A Simple JAX-WS Client

HelloClient is a stand-alone Java program that accesses the sayHello method of HelloService. It makes this call through a port, a local object that acts as a proxy for the remote service. The port is created at development time by the wsimport tool, which generates JAX-WS portable artifacts based on a WSDL file.

Coding the Client

When invoking the remote methods on the port, the client performs these steps:

1. Uses the javax.xml.ws.WebServiceRef annotation to declare a reference to a web service. @WebServiceRef uses the wsdlLocation element to specify the URI of the deployed service’s WSDL file.

   @WebServiceRef(wsdlLocation="http://localhost:8080/helloservice/hello?wsdl")
   static HelloService service;

2. Retrieves a proxy to the service, also known as a port, by invoking getHelloPort on the service.

   Hello port = service.getHelloPort();

   The port implements the SEI defined by the service.

3. Invokes the port’s sayHello method, passing to the service a name.

   String response = port.sayHello(name);

Here is the full source of HelloClient, which is located in the tut-install/javaeetutorial5/examples/jaxws/simpleclient/src/java/ directory.

package simpleclient;

import javax.xml.ws.WebServiceRef;
import helloservice.endpoint.HelloService;
import helloservice.endpoint.Hello;

public class HelloClient {
    @WebServiceRef(wsdlLocation="http://localhost:8080/
            helloservice/hello?wsdl")
    static HelloService service;

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            HelloClient client = new HelloClient();
            client.doTest(args);
        } catch(Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    public void doTest(String[] args) {
        try {
            System.out.println("Retrieving the port from
                     the following service: " + service);
            Hello port = service.getHelloPort();
            System.out.println("Invoking the sayHello operation
                     on the port.");

            String name;
            if (args.length > 0) {
                name = args[0];
            } else {
                name = "No Name";
            }

            String response = port.sayHello(name);
            System.out.println(response);
        } catch(Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Building and Running the Client

You can build and run the simpleclient application using either NetBeans IDE or ant. To build the client, you must first have deployed helloservice, as described in Building, Packaging, and Deploying the Service.

Building and Running the Client in NetBeans IDE

Do the following to build and run simpleclient:

1. In NetBeans IDE, select File->Open Project.

2. In the Open Project dialog, navigate to tut-install/javaeetutorial5/examples/jaxws/.

3. Select the simpleclient folder.

4. Select the Open as Main Project check box.

5. Click Open Project.

6. In the Projects tab, right-click the simpleclient project and select Run.

You will see the output of the application client in the Output pane.

Building and Running the Client Using Ant

In a terminal navigate to tut-install/examples/jaxws/simpleclient/ and type the following command:

ant

This command calls the default target, which builds and packages the application into a JAR file, simpleclient.jar, located in the dist directory.

The run the client, type the following command:

ant run