Understanding Softcoding

When you create a business service that enables JD Edwards EnterpriseOne to be a web service consumer, you can use softcoding to dynamically change the endpoint and security information that you provide in the web service proxy. You develop and test your web service against a development environment, which requires an endpoint and possibly security information. The endpoint and user credentials in the production environment will be different from those that you provide in the development environment. In the production environment, the web service proxy needs to know which machine to call for the service, and it needs to know what user credentials, if any, to pass for the external web service call. Softcoding enables you to dynamically plug in the machine name and user credentials at runtime instead of hard-coding them into the business service.

The business service requires a softcoding value at runtime. At a minimum, the softcoding value provides the endpoint for calling an external web service. If user credentials are required by the web service that is being called, the softcoding value includes security information, too. Depending on how many external web services you call, you can have many softcoding values. JD Edwards EnterpriseOne provides softcoding templates and softcoding records to help you manage multiple softcoding values.

Softcoding templates are used by developers during business service development and testing. The purpose of a softcoding template is to define what type of softcoding value is used by each business service. A softcoding template defines the expected structure of the softcoding value and serves as a communication mechanism between a developer and an administrator. Softcoding templates are not used at runtime, but they specify the softcoding value that a business service uses at runtime.

Softcoding records are created by administrators to be used by the system at runtime. A softcoding record contains the actual softcoding value that is to be used by a business service to call an external web service. Typically, softcoding records are created and maintained by an administrator. You can create many softcoding records for a business service. When you create a softcoding record, you provide a softcoding key, which is the name of the business service, a user ID or role information, and the environment.