Re: CNVRTTMP.RPGLE has no xml or json -

["Nadir Amra" <amra@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Just a clarification. 

IWS does not require you to return JSON or XML.  You can return anything 
you want.  However, if returning binary data it would need to be base64 
encoded AND the appropriate HTTP headers set. 



"WEB400" <web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote on 11/06/2018 08:30:12 AM:

> From: Kevin Bucknum <Kevin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries)" <web400@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 11/06/2018 08:31 AM
> Subject: Re: [WEB400] CNVRTTMP.RPGLE has no xml or json -
> Sent by: "WEB400" <web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Soap is a standard. It specifies how you should ask for the data, 
> and how the data has to look when you return it. It also provides 
> for discovery services.
>
> Rest is a way of doing things. There isn't a standard. Rest is about
> simplifying the process down to basic transactions, and letting you 
> decide how to request what you want, and how to return it.
>
> IWS is IBM's application server that acts as middleware. It imposes 
> its own requirements on the process. I haven't ever actually used 
> IWS for production, but did play around with it a (long) while ago. 
> At the time as I recall, Soap was the only option, and after playing
> around with it, it was overkill for what I needed.
>
> Fundamentally web services are just the process of sending or 
> requesting data via HTTP.  The basic requests that browsers use to 
> post forms and get data could even be considered Rest. Soap is like 
> an envelope. You have to address it correctly, you have to put the 
> stamp in the right place, etc.
>
> Since there is no standard for Rest, there is no requirement that 
> your Restful web service return XML or JSON. None of mine do. IWS 
> however forces you to choose to return either JSON or XML. It also 
> defines how it is going to pass your program (in this case the 
> program created when you compile the module below and create a 
> program out of it) the parameters it receives, and how your program 
> is supposed to return the data. It is built by IBM. They understand 
> RPGLE. They don't make you do the XML or JSON formatting. They 
> handle all of that for you and let you use traditional RPGLE parameters.