Apache ODE - how to start a deployed process

Question

I have created the following BPEL script.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<process name="ProcessInvoice"
    targetNamespace="http://invoiceregistry.me.cz/"
    xmlns="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wsbpel/2.0/process/executable"
    xmlns:invrwsdl="http://invoiceregistry.me.cz/"
    xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
    queryLanguage="urn:oasis:names:tc:wsbpel:2.0:sublang:xpath2.0"
    expressionLanguage="urn:oasis:names:tc:wsbpel:2.0:sublang:xpath2.0">

    <import
        location="InvoiceRegistryWS.wsdl"
        namespace="http://invoiceregistry.me.cz/"
        importType="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" />

    <partnerLinks>
        <partnerLink 
            name="InvoiceRegistryPartnerLink" 
            partnerLinkType="invrwsdl:InvoiceRegistryPartnerLinkType" 
            partnerRole="InvoiceRegistryServiceRole" />
    </partnerLinks>

    <variables>
        <variable name="newInvoice" messageType="invrwsdl:insertNewInvoice" />
        <variable name="response" messageType="invrwsdl:insertNewInvoiceResponse" />
    </variables>

    <sequence>
        <assign name="PrepareInsertNewInvoiceRequest">
            <copy>
                <from>
                    <literal>
                        <invoice>
                            <buyerId>entity-02</buyerId>
                            <sellerId>entity-03</sellerId>
                            <price>
                                <currency>CZK</currency>
                                <value>1000000</value>
                            </price>
                        </invoice>
                    </literal>
                </from>
                <to variable="newInvoice" part="parameters" />
            </copy>
        </assign>

      <invoke
            name="InsertNewInvoice"
            partnerLink="InvoiceRegistryPartnerLink"
            operation="insertNewInvoice"
            inputVariable="newInvoice"
            outputVariable="response" />

    </sequence>

</process>

I have finally managed to successfully deploy in into my local Apache ODE (running on Tomcat) installation.

Now I'm wondering how to make the process start. The following URL address:

http://localhost:8080/ode/processes/ProcessInvoice?wsdl

returns the following error message:

Requested resource not found!

Where do I find the WSDL file? Is there s way to start the process other than to manually send a SOAP message to it?

Answer 1

Is there s way to start the process other than to manually send a SOAP message to it?

No, there is not. Every process needs a starting activity. I wonder why ODE deploy's your process in the first place, but it is propably the reason, why there is no WSDL. To quote the BPEL spec., section 5.5 :

The creation of a process instance in WS-BPEL is always implicit; activities that receive messages (that is, <receive> activities and <pick> activities) can be annotated to indicate that the occurrence of that activity causes a new instance of the business process to be created. This is done by setting the createInstance attribute of such an activity to "yes".... A start activity is a <receive> or a <pick> activity annotated with a createInstance="yes" attribute. [SA00015] Each executable business process MUST contain at least one start activity...

So, you should include for example a receive activity right before your assign . To make this work, you also need an inbound ( myRole ) partnerLink . This is the interface your process is implementing. It should look somehow like this:

<partnerLinks>
       <partnerLink 
            name="InvoiceRegistryPartnerLink" ... />
        <partnerLink 
            name="MyRolePartnerLink" 
            partnerLinkType="invrwsdl:MyRolePartnerLinkType" 
            myRole="BPELServiceRole" />
</partnerLinks>
...
<receive partnerLink="MyRolePartnerLink" portType="MyPortType" operation="SomeStartingOperation" createInstance="yes" />
...

If you already have a WSDL your process is implementing, then just subsitute portType and operation names, etc. You perhaps also need to define a partnerLink , if you haven't already done that.