Web Service Interface

Modified on 2011/10/07 22:53 by Charles — Categorized as: Web Service

Jetfire Web Service Interface

Table of Contents [Hide/Show]

   Web Service Interface
      Introduction
      Web Service Usage Example
      Web Service and Roles
      Workflow Members
      Properties
      Methods
      States
      Exploring the Web Service Interface

Web Service Interface¶

This page describes how to use the Jetfire Web Service Interface to access the Jetfire Nexus. Explore the: Jetfire Web Service Interface to see the interface details. If you are building a client for the web service, we recommend that you use the Jetfire Utility to interface to the Jetfire WebService. It is a open source GNU Lessor licensed dll. Target Audience: designers building Web Service clients for Jetfire applications.

Introduction¶

The Jetfire Web Service emulates many of the functions seen in Jetfire Web Parts. Like any web service, it does so by abtracting the characteristics of the implementation. Functions of the Web Service include:

Login/Logout
Create/Delete/Save a Workflow
Execute commands on a Workflow
Get a specific Workflow
Get Workflows
- by name
- by guid
- by state
- by class name
Get Workflow Class
Utilities

Web Service Usage Example¶

The typical usage for an application using the Web Service is:

Login either as Guest or named User.
Get Workflows to display a navigation function
Get the data associated with a specific workflow
Make a change to a workflow and save it
repeat...
Logout

Refer to Web Service example walk through to see the details.

Web Service and Roles¶

Jetfire Users have Roles that provide access to workflows, properties and methods, as well as access to functions provided by the Website. Users log into the Web Service and roles play the same role for workflows, properties and methods. Functions provided by the Web Service are supplemented by configuring the web service where web methods are mapped to roles.

Review Web Service Application Settings to understand the relationship between Roles and Web Service methods. Securing the Jetfire Web Service explains how the Web Service is secured using Roles.

Workflow Members¶

Workflow members include:

Properties are the attributes of the workflow
Methods are typically used as commands that connect to the user
States are used to transition the workflow

Methods and States are fairly simple. Properties have more characteristics.

Properties¶

Properties have a number of characteristics that include:

Name - a unique name for the property in the workflow
DisplayName - the name displayed to the user for the property
ToolTip - a description of the property
Value - the value of the property
ClassName - the data type used to define the property value
Guid (optional - only used if the property is a workflow)
DefaultValue - the default value used if the value is blank
Display? - a flag that indicates whether to display the property
FormElement - the type of Control used to display the property
Position - used in the display of the property

DisplayName, ToolTip, DefaultValue, Display?, FormElement and Position are display characteristics that are set in the Server. The designer may choose to ignore these attributes to create custom displays.

Methods¶

To the user (and Jetfire GUI designer), Methods are represented by a (unique) Name. They also have a Display Name, i.e. the name displayed to the user, and a ToolTip, i.e. a description that provides a 'what does this command do?' explanation.

Methods (or Commands) are customized per workflow. Standard methods include:

Delete - delete the workflow

States¶

States are customized per workflow. There are no standard states.

Each State in the Workflow has a name. The Current State and Previous State are tracked in the workflow by properties, CurrentState and PreviousState respectively.