The following figure shows how an OpenEdge application can consume a Web service as a Web service client.
Figure 21. ABL clients consuming Web services
The dark shaded portions are the part of the client that are dedicated for Web service access. This picture is very much the same for any Web service client platform. However, in place of Java, VB.NET, or some other language, OpenEdge supports ABL.
As with other client platforms, OpenEdge relies on the WSDL file provided by the Web service to define the Web service interface for the client. In OpenEdge, the same WSDL file must be accessible at development time in order to allow the OpenEdge WSDL Analyzer to generate client interface documentation and at run time in order to allow the client application to consume the Web service. For more information, see OpenEdge Development: Web Services.
