Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Development:
Web Services

Simple data types

Simple data types represent the foundation for all types of data. The mappings for simple data types and how they can be transformed between Web services and the Progress 4GL provide the basic information for how to work with more complex types of data.

Suggested mappings

OpenEdge suggests recommended mappings between Web service parameters and Progress 4GL parameters in the generated documentation produced by the WSDL Analyzer. These are the mappings that are most semantically useful. Note also that wherever the WSDL file indicates that a parameter of any data type is nillable, this means that on the Web service side the parameter can have the null value and on the Progress 4GL side the parameter can pass the 4GL Unknown value (?).

Table 8–9 lists all the simple XML Schema data types in alphabetical order, showing for each one the Progress 4GL data type that OpenEdge suggests for mapping it. The table also provides notes on these mappings where appropriate.

Table 8–9: Suggested XML Schema mappings to Progress 4GL
data types
XML Schema data type
4GL data type
Notes 
anyURI 

CHARACTER
– 
base64Binary 

MEMPTR
You can use the 4GL BASE64-ENCODE and BASE64-DECODE functions to convert between Base 64 clear text (CHARACTER or LONGCHAR) and binary data (RAW or MEMPTR). 
boolean 

LOGICAL
– 
byte 

INTEGER
On INPUT, if the 4GL INTEGER value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema byte type, it is a run-time error. 
date 

DATE
On OUTPUT, the time zone information is lost. To retain it, use a 4GL CHARACTER parameter. 
dateTime 

DATETIME-TZ
– 
decimal 

DECIMAL
The 4GL DECIMAL type may not hold the entire XML Schema decimal value. However, it is common in the industry to do a mapping between XML Schema decimal and another decimal data type.
On OUTPUT, if the XML Schema decimal value overflows the 4GL DECIMAL type, it is a run-time error. 
double 

CHARACTER
– 
duration 

CHARACTER
– 
ENTITIES 

CHARACTER
– 
ENTITY 

CHARACTER
– 
float 

CHARACTER
– 
gDay 

CHARACTER
– 
gMonth 

CHARACTER
– 
gMonthDay 

CHARACTER
– 
gYear 

CHARACTER
– 
gYearMonth 

CHARACTER
– 
hexBinary 

MEMPTR
– 
ID 

CHARACTER
– 
IDREF 

CHARACTER
– 
IDREFS 

CHARACTER
– 
int 

INTEGER
– 
integer 

DECIMAL
The 4GL DECIMAL type may not hold the entire XML Schema integer value, but it is far more likely to do so than the 4GL INTEGER type.
On INPUT, if the 4GL DECIMAL value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema integer type, it is a run-time error.
On OUTPUT, if the value of the XML Schema integer value is outside the valid range of the 4GL DECIMAL type, it is a run-time error. 
Language 

CHARACTER
– 
long 

DECIMAL
On INPUT, if the 4GL DECIMAL value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema long type, it is a run-time error.
On OUTPUT, if the value of the XML Schema long value is outside the valid range of the 4GL DECIMAL type, it is a run-time error. 
Name 

CHARACTER
– 
NCName 

CHARACTER
– 
negativeInteger 

DECIMAL
The 4GL DECIMAL type may not hold the entire XML Schema negativeInteger value, but it is far more likely to do so than the 4GL INTEGER type.
On INPUT, if the 4GL DECIMAL value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema negativeInteger type, it is a run-time error.
On OUTPUT, if the value of the XML Schema negativeInteger value is outside the valid range of the 4GL DECIMAL type, it is a run-time error. 
NMTOKEN 

CHARACTER
– 
NMTOKENS 

CHARACTER
– 
nonNegativeInteger 

DECIMAL
The 4GL DECIMAL type may not hold the entire XML Schema nonNegativeInteger value, but it is far more likely to do so than the 4GL INTEGER type.
On INPUT, if the 4GL DECIMAL value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema nonNegativeInteger type, it is a run-time error.
On OUTPUT, if the value of the XML Schema nonNegativeInteger value is outside the valid range of the 4GL DECIMAL type, it is a run-time error. 
nonPositiveInteger 

DECIMAL
The 4GL DECIMAL type may not hold the entire XML Schema nonPositiveInteger value, but it is far more likely to do so than the 4GL INTEGER type.
On INPUT, if the 4GL DECIMAL value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema nonPositiveInteger type, it is a run-time error.
On OUTPUT, if the value of the XML Schema nonPositiveInteger value is outside the valid range of the 4GL DECIMAL type, it is a run-time error. 
normalizedString 

CHARACTER
– 
NOTATION 

CHARACTER
– 
positiveInteger 

DECIMAL
The 4GL DECIMAL type may not hold the entire XML Schema positiveInteger value, but it is far more likely to do so than the 4GL INTEGER type.
On INPUT, if the 4GL DECIMAL value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema positiveInteger type, it is a run-time error.
On OUTPUT, if the value of the XML Schema positiveInteger value is outside the valid range of the 4GL DECIMAL type, it is a run-time error. 
qName 

CHARACTER
– 
short 

INTEGER
On INPUT, if the 4GL INTEGER value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema short type, it is a run-time error. 
string 

CHARACTER
– 
time 

INTEGER
On INPUT, the value is converted with no time zone information. 
token 

CHARACTER
– 
unsignedByte 

INTEGER
On INPUT, if the 4GL INTEGER value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema unsignedByte type, it is a run-time error. 
unsignedInt 

DECIMAL
On INPUT, if the 4GL DECIMAL value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema unsignedInt type, it is a run-time error.
On OUTPUT, if the value of the XML Schema unsignedInt value is outside the valid range of the 4GL DECIMAL type, it is a run-time error. 
unsignedLong 

DECIMAL
On INPUT, if the 4GL DECIMAL value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema unsignedLong type, it is a run-time error.
On OUTPUT, if the value of the XML Schema unsignedLong value is outside the valid range of the 4GL DECIMAL type, it is a run-time error. 
unsignedShort 

INTEGER
On INPUT, if the 4GL INTEGER value is outside the valid range of the XML Schema unsignedShort type, it is a run-time error.

Interacting with XML Schema data formats

You might need to work directly with an XML Schema value whose format is not represented among the supported formats for the suggested Progress 4GL data type mapping, for example, a 51-digit decimal value. To handle this requirement, you can pass an XML Schema-formatted string version of the value into or out of the Web service invocation. OpenEdge automatically passes the XML Schema-formatted value when you map either a CHARACTER or LONGCHAR data type to any XML Schema data type that has a suggested mapping (see Table 8–9) other than CHARACTER or LONGCHAR.

When you pass the XML Schema-formatted value as an INPUT parameter, the Web service invocation incorporates it directly into the generated SOAP message. For an OUTPUT parameter, the invocation copies the XML Schema-formatted value directly from the SOAP message into the CHARACTER or LONGCHAR parameter.

When you pass an XML Schema-formatted value to a Web service, the invocation also validates the format of the value to ensure that it conforms to XML Schema formatting rules for the data type. Note that the invocation does not validate any facets declared in the <schema> element to constrain the value. It ensures that the format of the value you provide is valid according to its base XML Schema data type representation, but not, for example, if the value falls within a given range.

Thus, for example, if you pass a Progress 4GL CHARACTER as an INPUT parameter for an XML Schema int, the invocation checks to ensure that it contains a properly formatted 32-bit integer value. If you pass a Progress 4GL CHARACTER as an OUTPUT parameter for an XML Schema int, the invocation copies the Schema-formatted value directly from the SOAP message into the 4GL CHARACTER parameter.

Data type casting

As described previously, OpenEdge supports a set of alternative Progress 4GL data types (in addition to a suggested data type) to represent the value for an XML Schema data type in the Progress 4GL. These alternative data types essentially force the Web service invocation to cast the value between the specified native Progress 4GL representation and the corresponding XML Schema data type. The result of this casting might not preserve as much accuracy as the suggested mapping.

Table 8–10 shows all the supported castings (alternative mappings) between the XML Schema and Progress 4GL data types. The suggested Progress 4GL data type mapping (see Table 8–9) for each XML Schema type appears in bold font. For a detailed description of how OpenEdge casts each supported mapping, see Appendix D "Data Type Casting Rules for Progress 4GL Calls to Web Services."

Note: OpenEdge supports no castings for the RECID, ROWID, or HANDLE 4GL data types.

Table 8–10: Supported casts between XML Schema and Progress 4GL
data types
XML Schema data type
Progress 4GL data type 
anyURI 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

base64Binary 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 
MEMPTR 
RAW 

boolean 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

byte 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

date 

CHARACTER 
DATE 
DATETIME 
DATETIME-TZ 

dateTime 

CHARACTER 
DATE 
DATETIME 
DATETIME-TZ 

decimal 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

double 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

duration 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

ENTITIES 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

ENTITY 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

float 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

gDay 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

gMonth 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

gMonthDay 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

gYear 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

gYearMonth 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

hexBinary 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 
MEMPTR 
RAW 

ID 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

IDREF 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

IDREFS 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

int 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

integer 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

Language 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

long 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

Name 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

NCName 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

negativeInteger 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LONGCHAR 

NMTOKEN 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

NMTOKENS 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

nonNegativeInteger 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

nonPositiveInteger 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

normalizedString 

CHARACTER 
DATE 
DATETIME 
DATETIME-TZ 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

NOTATION 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

positiveInteger 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LONGCHAR 

qName 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

short 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

string 

CHARACTER 
DATE 
DATETIME 
DATETIME-TZ 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

time 

CHARACTER 
INTEGER 
LONGCHAR 

token 

CHARACTER 
LONGCHAR 

unsignedByte 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

unsignedInt 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

unsignedLong 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR 

unsignedShort 

CHARACTER 
DECIMAL 
INTEGER 
LOGICAL 
LONGCHAR

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