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.