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Using the sedex Web Service Proxy from a business application

This section is intended as an overview and gives short and concise answers to typical questions about using the sedex Web Service Proxy. Usually an answer refers to the section in the documentation where details can be found.

Use a Web service from a business application

Your business application communicates with the sedex Web Service Proxy instead of the real Web Service. Therefore, you have to enter the URL of the Web Service on the sedex Web Service Proxy as endpoint in your business application.

The sedex WS Proxy behaves exactly the same as the real Web service, so your business application can communicate exactly the same as with the real Web service:

  • Normal Web service responses are identical to the responses of the real Web service.
  • Web service responses in case of (business or validation) errors are identical to the responses of the real Web service.
  • In case the real Web service does not provide a response at all, the sedex Web Service Proxy will generate a response on its own. This generated response will always give a hint (in its body) to the cause of the problem. See Error codes in the Web Service Proxy access Log for a table with possible status codes.

Get the URL of a Web service from the sedex Web Service Proxy

The sedex Web Service Proxy automatically receives all Web services from the sedex server for which it is authorized to use. The list of Web services available on the Web service proxy can be found on the monitoring page of the sedex client. There you can find the local URL including the exact path where the Web service can be reached.

For details about the monitoring page see Monitoring.

Get the WSDL Schema of a Web Service

The WSDL schema describes the operations of a Web Service and is required by the developers of a business application to generate a Web Service Client. It consists of a WSDL file and possibly referenced XSD schema files.

The sedex Web Service Proxy itself does not contain a WSDL schema for a Web Service. That means it can only deliver a WSDL schema if the original Web Service provides one under its endpoint URL followed by the expression ?wsdl. This is a best practice and is followed by most Web Services.

If the real Web service supports the download of the WSDL schema, it can also be downloaded through the sedex Web Service Proxy by adding the expression ?wsdl to the URL.

If the original Web service does not offer a WSDL schema via its URL, it can not be downloaded via sedex Web Service Proxy. In this case, the WSDL schema must be obtained in another way according to the instructions of the respective WebService provider.

Note: In many use cases handled via sedex platform a Web service is based on an eCH standard, for which the WSDL are available at www.ech.ch.

How to authenticate and authorize as a business application against sedex Web Service Proxy

The Web service proxy supports two basic access methods:

  • HTTP

    Access is made via unencrypted HTTP. Access here is anonymous only. Neither authentication nor authorization is possible via this unprotected access. If this unprotected access mode is not wanted for security reasons, access via unprotected HTTP can be switched off completely.

  • HTTPS

    Access is secured via a channel encrypted with TLS. Access can be restricted to authenticated and authorized business applications.

Administering sedex Web Service Proxy users explains how technical users can be registered and authorized for business applications in the Web Service Proxy, each with their own username and password.

Technically the “Basic Authentication” procedure is used as the mechanism for authenticating business applications at the sedex Web Service Proxy. In the business application this procedure has to be configured for Web Service access together with the username and password.

Use SSL/TLS between business application and sedex Web Service Proxy

In order to use a secure TLS connection between the business application and the sedex Web Service Proxy, a specific SSL/TLS certificate with the corresponding private key must be installed in the sedex Web Service Proxy:

  • By default the sedex client automatically generates and pre-configures a ready-to-use self-signed certificate.
  • If you prefer to use your own SSL/TLS certificate, you can install and configure your own certificate in the sedex Web Service Proxy instead of the preconfigured self- signed certificate.

Note: Depending on the actual Web Service Client inside your business application, the SSL/TLS certificate of the Web Service Proxy may have to be added to the trust store of your business application to establish a trust between your application and the sedex Web Service Proxy.

SSL/TLS certificate explains the configuration of the SSL/TLS certificate in detail.