Web service development tools
Figure 6–5 shows OpenEdge tools that you use to build a Web service, using the WorldWeather Web service (see "Web services in action" section) as an example.
You can first build an AppServer application using Progress 4GL development tools from OpenEdge Studio, such as the Progress Editor, OpenEdge AppBuilder, Progress Dynamics®, or even a simple text editor and Progress 4GL compilation scripts. Similar to developing a .NET or Java Open Client, you compile the completed AppServer procedures (or their prototypes) and provide the resulting r-code as input to the OpenEdge Open Client Proxy Generator (ProxyGen) utility. However, instead of generating Open Client proxies, ProxyGen generates the Web service (client interface) definition in the form of a Web service mapping (WSM) file used during Web service deployment. Optionally, you can also generate a WSDL file to develop a Web service client prior to deploying the Web service for testing and production access. For more information on client development and testing, see the "Client development tools" section.
In the example, your AppServer application includes procedures, such as getTemp.p, that combine to form the interface of the WorldWeather Web service. In ProxyGen, you define the WorldWeather project (WorldWeather.xpxg) from this interface and generate the WSM file (WorldWeather.wsm) to deploy the Web service and generate the optional WSDL file (WorldWeather.wsdl) develop client code for testing Web service development.
For more information on how the AppServer supports Web services, see OpenEdge Application Server: Developing AppServer Applications . For more information on how the Open Client object model and ProxyGen support Web service development, see OpenEdge Development: Open Client Introduction and Programming and OpenEdge Development: Web Services .