Help forming a SOAP client call with PHP

beagle804 · 03-19-2009, 02:15 PM

Hello all. Admittedly I an quite new to the world of SOAP. I've got the basics covered and am able to communicate with the Soap Server that my client has provided. But I'm having some trouble forming data into the required arrays so that the request shows up in proper format at the server.

Code:

<PostAssessment xmlns="http://www.server.com">
  <ProjectKey>ABCDE</ProjectKey>
  <UserName>JohnDoe</UserName>
  <Password>JDPassword</Password>
  <AssessmentOrderRequest xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <ClientId idOwner="DDI" xmlns="http://ns.hr-xml.org/2006-02-28">
      <IdValue name="Company">9876</IdValue>
      <IdValue name="Location">54321</IdValue>
      <IdValue name="Client Key">A-Client-Key</IdValue>
    </ClientId>
    <ClientOrderId idOwner="DDI" xmlns="http://ns.hr-xml.org/2006-02-28">
      <IdValue name="Client Order Number">Name-of-the-order</IdValue>
    </ClientOrderId>
  </AssessmentOrderRequest>
</PostAssessment>

The following snippet shows what I have so far...

Code:

$ClientId['IdValue'] = array( 'name' => 'Company' );

$Request['ClientId'] = $ClientId;

$param=array(
'ProjectKey' => 'ABCDE',
'UserName' => 'JohnDoe',
'Password' => 'JDPassword',
'AssessmentOrderRequest' => $Request );

$result = $client->PostAssessment( $param );

When checking the __getLastRequest(), everything looks good up to that point. I just can't get the value "9876" assigned to <IdValue name="company">. Everything I've tried gets a response from the server like this:

Code:

<IdValue name="Company"/>

instead of this:

Code:

<IdValue name="Company">9876</IdValue>

If anyone can help point me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

paulsm4 · 03-20-2009, 10:04 AM

Hi -

Just to make sure we're all on the same page,

1. You're probably using the SOAP extension with PHP 5, and you're probably creating your client object something like this:
http://www.herongyang.com/php/php_soap.html

Code:

<?php # GetTemp.php
# Copyright (c) 2005 by Dr. Herong Yang, http://www.herongyang.com/
#
   $client = new SoapClient
      ("http://www.xmethods.net/sd/2001/DemoTemperatureService.wsdl");

2. If so, PHP will automagically read the .wsdl, and your client object can read the SOAP data with "get" methods like this:

Code:

echo("\nReturning value of getTemp() call: ".
      $client->getTemp());

3. Your client's "getTemp()" call will have generated a SOAP request to the server, and the SOAP response will look something like this:[quote]

Quote:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<SOAP-ENV:Envelope
xmlns:SOAP-ENV="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<SOAP-ENV:Body>
<ns1:getTempResponse xmlns:ns1="urn:xmethods-Temperature-Demo"
SOAP-ENV:encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">
<return xsi:type="xsd:float">52.0</return>
</ns1:getTempResponse>
</SOAP-ENV:Body>
</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>

The result you'll see in the browser will look something like this:

Quote:

Returning value of getTemp() call: 52

4. Now:
Q: How do you set a SOAP value?
A: Easy. You make a method call from your client object to the server (just like above). Only you pass one or more parameters in your argument:

Code:

echo("\nReturning value of getTemp() call: ".
      $client->getTemp("123456"));

In other words:
1. The WSDL defines the "protocol" - describing the *methods* client and server will use to exchange data, and the data these methods will exchange

2. The PHP SOAP extension "wraps" the WSDL-specific protocol for you, permitting you to read (and, implicitly, write) data to and from the server with the appropriate method calls.

I hope that helps (at least a little bit).

IMHO .. PSM

beagle804 · 03-20-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulsm4

Hi -

Just to make sure we're all on the same page,

1. You're probably using the SOAP extension with PHP 5,

Yes, I am using the SOAP extension within PHP 5. I have got my script working to the point that it grabs the WSDL properly. My client has defined a complex XML of which I only posted a portion of it. Once I can get past this part, I can then apply my new knowledge to the rest of the XML. What I've done so far, goes beyond any of the examples you've referenced.

Thanks for the input.....

paulsm4 · 03-20-2009, 12:41 PM

In your original post, I wasn't clear if you were asking how to set a value (A: use the methods your WSDL provides), or if you simply weren't seeing the values you expected to see (A: what you see should be what's defined by the WSDL).

Either way: the answer starts with the WSDL (you can't access something with PHP that isn't there in the SOAP response; you can't force something into SOAP that isn't expected by the WSDL).

'Hope that helps .. PSM