Re: IWS Large Character output support -- WEB400

So not sure if this is what you are trying to do, but took the following
program and deployed as REST service:

h PGMINFO(*PCML:*MODULE:*DCLCASE)
D WSCASEINQ PR ExtPgm('WSCASEINQ')
D CASE# 13A
D courtcase_LENGTH...
D 10i 0
D courtcase 500000a
D WSCASEINQ PI
D CASE# 13A
D courtcase_LENGTH...
D 10i 0
D courtcase 500000a

/free
courtcase_LENGTH = 10;
courtcase = 'abcde';
*INLR=*ON;
/end-free

And I do not get the _LENGTH field in response.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"
standalone="yes"?><WSCASEINQResult><courtcase>abcde
</courtcase></WSCASEINQResult>

I assumed the CASE# is an input parameter, and the other parameters are
output parameters.

So it works for me, tried it on 7.4 and 7.2. So I am not sure why things
are not working for you. I would need to see how you are deploying.

"WEB400" <web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote on 08/13/2019 12:15:12
PM:

On Aug 13, 2019, at 12:10 PM, Ric Turner <rturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

wrote:

Here is the parameter list that is being interpreted incorrectly.

The reason for not using the varchar is that a byte appears at the
beginning of the field that I assume is the length of the varchar
field in hex or binary and it becomes part of the output parameter
which in my case the end-user does not want.

DName+++++++++++ETDsFrom+++To/L+++IDc.Keywords+++++++++++
D WSCASEINQ PR ExtPgm('WSCASEINQ')
D CASE# 13A
D courtcase_LENGTH...
D 10i 0
D courtcase 500000a
D WSCASEINQ PI
D CASE# 13A
D courtcase_LENGTH...
D 10i 0
D courtcase 500000a

This simple program accepts the CASE# parm and simply creates XML

in the courtcase parameter. But since I don't know how large the
XML will be at any given time I want to make the courtcase parameter
large enough to store all XML that will be created.

Thanks,
Ric Turner
JANO Technologies, Inc.
601.362.7601 ext. 224
800.250.9884 ext.224

The preceding e-mail is privileged and confidential and is

intended only for the named addressee. If you received this message
in error, please delete it and notify the sender by return e-mail or
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-----Original Message-----
From: WEB400 <web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Nadir
Amra
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2019 10:42 AM
To: Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries)
<web400@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [WEB400] IWS Large Character output support

Jon, you could use length fields for character fields. Some

applications have character fields with large lengths, and IWS trims
trailing blanks, and thus for these types of fields it could degrade
performance.

However, I do agree that varchar would be much cleaner.

"WEB400" <web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote on 08/13/2019
10:29:06
AM:

From: Jon Paris <jon.paris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries)"

<web400@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Date: 08/13/2019 10:37 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [WEB400] IWS Large Character output support
Sent by: "WEB400" <web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

If you are not using an array how can the parameter vary in length?
If it is a character field and you want to restrict the output length

why not use a varying length field?

On Aug 13, 2019, at 11:18 AM, Ric Turner <rturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

wrote:

Thanks Jon, I will try to resolve this using your suggestion but I

am not using an array so this may be tricky. Thx

Thanks,
Ric Turner
JANO Technologies, Inc.
601.362.7601 ext. 224
800.250.9884 ext.224

The preceding e-mail is privileged and confidential and is

intended only for the named addressee. If you received this message
in error, please delete it and notify the sender by return e-mail or
by phone at the numbers noted above.

-----Original Message-----
From: WEB400 <web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Jon

Paris

Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2019 10:13 AM
To: Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries)

<web400@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Subject: Re: [WEB400] IWS Large Character output support

You may have the same problem I did Ric. Take a look at these two

interfaces:

This one works and the _LENGTH field is omitted from the output.

dcl-pi RestSrv5 ExtPgm;
requestedCat Like(catcod);
result char(20);
productList LikeDS(productList_T);
end-pi;

Dcl-ds product ExtName('PRODUCT') End-ds;

Dcl-ds productList_T Qualified Template;
products_LENGTH int(5);
products LikeDS(product) Dim(20);
End-Ds;

I think my original attempt looked like this - and it does as you

describe and includes the _LENGTH in the output;

dcl-pi RestSrv5 ExtPgm;
requestedCat Like(catcod);
result char(20);
products_LENGTH int(5);
products LikeDS(product) Dim(20);
end-pi;

Dcl-ds product ExtName('PRODUCT') End-ds;

To men the documentation implied that the _LENGTH had to be

_among_ the parameters whereas in fact it has to be _within_ the
parameter to which it relates.

On Aug 13, 2019, at 11:01 AM, Ric Turner <rturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

wrote:

Yes, I have the detect fields box clicked and my IT folks tell me

the latest PTF's are installed. For some reason it displays the
_LENGTH parm when redeploying the service and I was not expecting
that. My understanding is that it should not appear in the list of
parms but be detected by the IWS as a field only to define the length

to speed things up.

Thanks,
Ric Turner
JANO Technologies, Inc.
601.362.7601 ext. 224
800.250.9884 ext.224

The preceding e-mail is privileged and confidential and is

intended only for the named addressee. If you received this message
in error, please delete it and notify the sender by return e-mail or
by phone at the numbers noted above.

-----Original Message-----
From: WEB400 <web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Nadir

Amra
Sent: Friday, August 9, 2019 9:26 AM
To: Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries)
<web400@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [WEB400] IWS Large Character output support

Have you enable "detect field lengths" option? Do you have

latest HTTP group PTF?

FYI, the article was written prior to varchar[1] support.

varchar would also work in this case as well.

[1]

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/wikis/home?lang=en#!/wiki

/dW%20IBM%20Integrated%20Web%20Services%20for%20i/page/Support%20varia

ble%20length%20fields

"WEB400" <web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote on 08/09/2019
07:42:43
AM:

From: Ric Turner <rturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "WEB400@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <WEB400@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 08/09/2019 07:42 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [WEB400] IWS Large Character output
support Sent by: "WEB400" <web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi All,

We have found an article that addresses speeding up the SOAP web
service when large character fields are used to return data to the

consumer (titled: Integrated web services server for IBM i updates

at

website: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/ibmi/library/i-
integrated-web-services-server/index.html ).

Below is an excerpt from the article:

Enable improved processing of very large output character fields
Length field support has been extended to character fields. Output

character fields that are very large (I am talking about 1000s of
bytes) take time to process because the determination of the size
of

the string to return is done by traversing the field a byte at a
time, from right to left, looking for the first non-blank

character.

To improve the processing of these large character fields, you can

specify an integer (int) field length that immediately precedes
the character field with the same name as the character field
appended with _LENGTH (similar to what is done when processing
output arrays with field lengths). If the field length exists and
Detect length fields is selected, the traversing of the field to
determine the

size

is not performed, improving performance. In addition, the length
field is hidden from the client and is not returned in the

client response.

My question to the group is - Has anyone tried using this

approach?

I have coded my SOAP web service (I am the provider) using this
approach only to find that it does not work as outlined in the
article. I am running this on a v7.2 machine and it is written in

RPGLE as a program (not a service program).

When I perform the redeploy of the service all 3 parameters are
displayed (including the _LENGTH parm), but I was expecting only 2

parameters to appear (excluding the _LENGTH parm).

Here is the RPGLE code from my program:

D WSCASEINQ PR ExtPgm('WSCASEINQ')
D CASE# 13A
D courtcase_LENGTH...
D 10i 0
D courtcase 500000a
D WSCASEINQ PI
D CASE# 13A
D courtcase_LENGTH...
D 10i 0
D courtcase 500000a

The whole idea is to not return the _LENGTH parm to the consumer.
There is no example in the article, it just states that this

approach

works like the approach used for the array.66

Does anyone know what I am doing wrong to not be able to take
advantage of this approach? Any assistance is greatly

appreciated.