converting web forms into php- based web services with
TRANSCRIPT
Converting Web Forms into PHP-based Web Serviceswith form2webservice generator
The Tool formerly known as FaSTer
Tobias Vogel
Good for Humans, bad for Computers
■ Web pages are intended for human use
□ Human-oriented interfaces
■ Computer programs cannot access them (unless they have APIs)
■ Much valuable functionality hidden
□ TinyURL, yellow pages, your application :-)
API
17
Create!
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Wrapper
Encapsulation
HTTP
ClientSOAP
J-RMI
CORBA
…
Generator
Web application
Log human
interaction
1 Monitor human interaction
2 Save each step/form
3 Consolidate input parameters
4 Analyze output schema
5 Generate Web Service
6 (Deploy Web Service)
19
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Home-brewn API
Analysis and Generation Workflow
1 Monitor human interaction
2 Save each step/form
3 Consolidate input parameters
4 Analyze output schema
5 Generate Web Service
6 (Deploy Web Service)
20
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Demo
Demo
Demo
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
21
Page B
Fname
Model
John Doe
XYZ
Web Applications Have HTML GUIs
■ Web applications :=
applications with
an HTML GUI
□ Internal variables
□ Partly visible as
Form Elements
■ Mapping required
Page A
Name
Age
Model …
Name
Age
Model
Model XYZ
Fname John Doe
…Name, Fname
Model
Age
Integrated Schema
(Model)
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Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Page B
Fname
Model
John Doe
XYZ
Web Applications Have HTML GUIs
■ Web applications :=
applications with
an HTML GUI
□ Internal variables
□ Partly visible as
Form Elements
■ Mapping required
Page A
Name
Age
Model …
Name
Age
Model
Model XYZ
Fname John Doe
…Name, Fname
Model
Age
Integrated Schema
(Model)
23
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Page B
Fname
Model
John Doe
XYZ
Web Applications Have HTML GUIs
■ Web applications :=
applications with
an HTML GUI
□ Internal variables
□ Partly visible as
Form Elements
■ Mapping required
Page A
Name
Age
Model …
Name
Age
Model
Model XYZ
Fname John Doe
…Name, Fname
Model
Age
Integrated Schema
(Model)
24
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Page B
Fname
Model
John Doe
XYZ
Web Applications Have HTML GUIs
■ Web applications :=
applications with
an HTML GUI
□ Internal variables
□ Partly visible as
Form Elements
■ Mapping required
Page A
Name
Age
Model …
Name
Age
Model
Model XYZ
Fname John Doe
…Name, Fname
Model
Age
Integrated Schema
(Model)
25
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Page B
Fname
Model
John Doe
XYZ
Web Applications Have HTML GUIs
■ Web applications :=
applications with
an HTML GUI
□ Internal variables
□ Partly visible as
Form Elements
■ Mapping required
Page A
Name
Age
Model …
Name
Age
Model
Model XYZ
Fname John Doe
…Name, Fname
Model
Age
Integrated Schema
(Model)
26
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Page B
Fname
Model
John Doe
XYZ
Web Applications Have HTML GUIs
■ Web applications :=
applications with
an HTML GUI
□ Internal variables
□ Partly visible as
Form Elements
■ Mapping required
Page A
Name
Age
Model …
Name
Age
Model
Model XYZ
Fname John Doe
…Name, Fname
Model
Age
Integrated Schema
(Model)
27
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Page B
Fname
Model
John Doe
XYZ
Web Applications Have HTML GUIs
■ Web applications :=
applications with
an HTML GUI
□ Internal variables
□ Partly visible as
Form Elements
■ Mapping required
Page A
Name
Age
Model …
Name
Age
Model
Model XYZ
Fname John Doe
…Name, Fname
Model
Age
Integrated Schema
(Model)
28
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Page B
Fname
Model
John Doe
XYZ
Web Applications Have HTML GUIs
■ Web applications :=
applications with
an HTML GUI
□ Internal variables
□ Partly visible as
Form Elements
■ Mapping required
Page A
Name
Age
Model …
Name
Age
Model
Model XYZ
Fname John Doe
…Name, Fname
Model
Age
Integrated Schema
(Model)
29
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Page B
Fname
Model
John Doe
XYZ
Web Applications Have HTML GUIs
■ Web applications :=
applications with
an HTML GUI
□ Internal variables
□ Partly visible as
Form Elements
■ Mapping required
Page A
Name
Age
Model …
Name
Age
Model
Model XYZ
Fname John Doe
…Name, Fname
Model
Age
Integrated Schema
(Model)
30
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Analysis and Generation Workflow
1 Monitor human interaction
2 Save each step/form
3 Consolidate input parameters
4 Analyze output schema
5 Generate Web Service
6 (Deploy Web Service)
31
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Demo
Demo
Demo
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
32
FASTER | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
33
Output
■ XPath to specify parts
■ Response types
□ simple: return direct XPath result
□ list: <ol>, <ul>
□ table: create row objects using column descriptions
Job Command Runtime
backup disk backup.bat 30 s
find temp files find /tmp | wc -l
90 s
turn off shutdown -s 45 s
result1 {
job: "backup disk",
command: "backup.bat",
runtime: "30 s"
},
result2 {
job: "find temp files",
…
Analysis and Generation Workflow
1 Monitor human interaction
2 Save each step/form
3 Consolidate input parameters
4 Analyze output schema
5 Generate Web Service
6 (Deploy Web Service)
34
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Demo
Demo
Demo
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
35
PHP Classes to Web Services
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
36
Generator
PHP class
InstantSVC(auto-
generator)
InstantSVCSOAP Server
Web Service
WSDL
http://instantsvc.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/instantsvc/
branches/form2ws-converter/
Summary
1 Monitor human interaction
2 Save each step/form
3 Consolidate input parameters
4 Analyze output schema
5 Generate Web Service
6 (Deploy Web Service)
37
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
Demo
Demo
Encapsulating Multi-Stepped Web Forms
Tobias Vogel, Frank Kaufer, and Felix Naumann, WESOA09 at ICSOC 2009,
Stockholm
Posr: A Comprehensive System for Aggregating and Using Web Services
Mohammed AbuJarour, Mircea Craculeac, Falko Menge, Tobias Vogel, and Jan-
Felix Schwarz. IEEE Services Cup at SERVICES 2009, Los Angeles, USA.
The End
Form2WebService-Generator | BePHPUG | Tobias Vogel | 05.01.2010
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