Integrated Web Services for i

In support of Web services and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), the IBM i operating system integrates software technologies that support the externalization of an integrated language environment (ILE) program object as a Web service and the consumption of a Web service by an ILE program object. These technologies are the integrated Web services server and the integrated Web services client for ILE.

Integrated Web services server: The Web service engine or run time is integrated in IBM i and is used to externalize ILE business logic as a service. This integration opens the IBM i system to a variety of Web service client implementations, including RPG, COBOL, C, C++, Java™, .NET, PHP, WebSphere Process Server, ESB, and Web 2.0.

The features of the integrated Web services server include:

• Easy to use via centralized configuration and control
  The Web services server focuses on making the deployment of ILE-based Web services as painless as possible by hiding the complexities of the Web services server behind an-easy to use and intuitive Web administrative GUI front-end that allows you to manage and monitor the server and any deployed Web services.
• Leading edge
  Even though the focus is on ease-of-use for the deployment of ILE-based services, the Web services server is built on the powerful, yet lightweight, integrated application server and best-of-breed technologies in support of Web services, which includes the Apache Axis2 Web services engine. The Web services server supports:
  • Dynamic generation of WSDL documents
  • WSDL 1.1, SOAP 1.1 and SOAP 1.2 (SOAP 1.2 is only supported on IBM i 6.1 and above)
  • SSL and basic authentication via HTTP server front-end
• Small footprint
  Uses ILE programming architecture for minimal consumption of IBM i resources.

The benefits of the integrated Web services server include:

• Get started with no up-front costs
  The integrated Web services is part of the operating system, so you can get services up and running and show tangible results fast.
• Focus on your core capabilities
  Solution providers do not require new skills or tools for the deployment of ILE-based Web services and thus can focus efforts on building differentiated value for customers rather than rewriting core infrastructure.

Integrated Web services client for ILE: The Web services client for ILE delivers a mechanism to generate service artifacts and allow ILE (RPG, COBOL, C, and C++) to act as a services consumer. It can call a variety of Web service implementations, including RPG, COBOL, C, C++, Java, PHP, .NET, WebSphere Process Server, ESB, etc.

The features of the integrated Web services client for ILE include:

• Uses quick interoperability of ILE programming architecture for minimal consumption of IBM i resources with a small system footprint
• Supports document style literal only
• Complies with Web Services Invocation (WSI) 1.1 basic profile
• Supports Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

The benefits of the integrated Web services server include:

• No up-front costs
• Uses and enhances existing IBM i development skills to interact with Web services and SOA