Consuming StrikeIron Web Services in Web Applications

This tutorial outlines the steps to consume StrikeIron web services prepackaged with NetBeans IDE 6.1 or 6.0, using the Visual Web designer. Specifically, it will demonstrate how to build a web application that invokes the US Address Verification service to verify the address entered by the user.

Contents

To follow this tutorial, you need the following software and resources.

Both Tomcat and GlassFish can be installed, optionally, with the Web and Java EE distribution of NetBeans IDE. Alternatively, you can visit the GlassFish downloads page or the Apache Tomcat downloads page.

You also need a StrikeIron account in order to access StrikeIron web services. As a NetBeans user, you obtain free StrikeIron hits when you register for a StrikeIron account. For more details, visit http://developer.strikeiron.com/netbeans/freetrial/.

NetBeans IDE 6.0 and 6.1 come prepackaged with a set of popular StrikeIron web services. You can access them by switching to the Services window, expanding the Web Services node, and opening the StrikeIron Services node. There, after a moment while the services load, you should see the following services (in 6.0—6.1 has many more):

Later in the tutorial, we will demonstrate how to consume these web services by dragging and dropping them onto the Visual Web designer.

Creating a Web Project

First, you need to create a web project that is supported by the Visual Web designer.

Choose File > New Project. Under Categories, select Web. Under Projects, select Web Application and click Next. Under Project Name, enter USAddressVerificationDemo. Under Server, select the server and click Next.

Creating a project in NetBeans 6.1 includes new options which can be left at the default. For example, the Use Dedicated Folder for Storing Libraries checkbox may be left unselected.

Check Visual Web JavaServer Faces under Frameworks, as shown below:
Click Finish.

Designing the Web Page

After you create the USAddressVerificationDemo project, the IDE automatically opens the default Page1.jsp in the Design tab, which contains an empty canvas. On the right-hand side of the canvas, you will see the Palette (available under the Window menu). We will implement the page as shown below:

Here is how to design the page shown above:

Implementing the Web Page

This section shows you code to invoke the US Address Verification service. This code uses the web page you made in Designing the Web Page to collect data and display the result.

public String validateButton_action() {
    USAddressVerificationSoapVerifyAddressUSA bean =
            this.getUSAddressVerificationSoapVerifyAddressUSA1();
    //bean.setUnregisteredUserEmail("your_email_address_here");
    bean.setUserID("your_strikeiron_userid_here");
    bean.setPassword("your_strikeiron_password_here");
    bean.setAddressLine1((String) getAddressLine1TF().getText());
    bean.setAddressLine2((String) getAddressLine2TF().getText());
    bean.setCityStateZip((String) getCityStateZipTF().getText());

    getResultTF().setText(bean.invokeMethod().getAddressStatus());

    return null;
}

Testing the Web Page

To test the application, do the following:

In the Projects window, right click the project and choose Run. The server starts and the browser opens. In the browser, type in an address in the Address Line 1, Address Line 2 and City State & Zip text f ields and click Validate. You should see the result in the Result field as shown below:

Looking for More StrikeIron Services

In the Services window, right-click on the StrikeIron Services node and choose Find StrikeIron Services. Type a search word, such as "stock", and press Enter. When the search returns, the results are displayed in a list on the left of the dialog. Select a row to see the service description details.

To use a service, select it and click Add. The new service is added to the StrikeIron folder and is then immediately ready for trying out.

See Also

For more information about using NetBeans IDE to develop Java EE applications, see the following resources:

To send comments and suggestions, get support, and keep informed on the latest developments on the NetBeans IDE Java EE development features, join the mailing list.