Web service design

These web functions utilize the WCF platform developed by Microsoft. WCF is intended to replace the previous ASMX web service platform. More information about WCF can be found on the Microsoft website: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc668792%28v=vs.110%29.aspx.

WCF uses a different file handler (.svc), therefore a new file, Integration.svc, has been included in the BlueGateway folder. The URL to access this file is:

http://[ServerName]/ApplicationName]Integration.svc

This change does not affect the integration setup in Blue.

Web functions

The input and output parameters of the functions are message contracts. There are two reasons for taking this approach.

1. The API key is passed to the web service as a soap header. However, in WCF, the traditional approach of inserting the API key into the SOAP header as a web function attribute is not possible.
2. The structure of the XML message is clearly defined for any client support SOAP protocol ensuring interoperability.

See additional information about the message contract: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms730255.aspx

WCF bindings

One of the advantages of WCF is that it provides multiple transfer protocols. For more information about WCF binding, refer to the following Microsoft website: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms733033.aspx.

The Blue web services take advantage of three binding types (wsHTTP, basicHTTP and Net TCP) depending on the function.

Web Function Binding Types