Release Highlights for the RA Web Service Agent v3

The RA Web Service Agent v3 is a major redesign in terms of features and user interface from v1/2. There is no Job upgrade utility for Jobs created in v1/2 of RA Web Service Agent. Jobs created in v3 are a different Job type from v1/2. It is technically a separate Agent type. Because it is a separate Agent type, you can install the v3 RA Web Service Agent solution Agent on the same Automation Engine where RA Web Service Agent v1 or v2 Agents are installed and use both Agents with their Jobs and Connection objects concurrently.

New Features Only in Major and Minor Versions of All Automic Software by Broadcom

Broadcom recommends that you always install the latest Service Pack or Hotfix. Both contain valuable corrections and bug fixes between Major and Minor Releases, where new features and enhancements are introduced.

  • Major Release: This is the main version of a software release. It is identified by the first segment of the entire version number (such as the 10 in 10.0.0).
  • Minor Release: This includes new features, modifications and corrections that may contain major changes such as database modifications. It is identified by the second segment of the entire version number (such as the 2 in 11.2.0).
  • Service Pack: This is a patch for a release and contains corrections for errors. New features or modifications are not included. Service packs are identified by the third segment of the entire version number (such as the 2 in 10.0.2).
  • Hotfix: This is a minor sub-release to remove malfunctions and defects. Hotfixes are indicated by an HF number after the version number (such as the 1 in 10.0.2 HF 1).

Getting the Latest Information

Documentation, release notes, and other information is often updated after software is released. This list describes where to find the most recent information for Broadcom's Automic software releases:

The RA Web Service Agent is not available on IBM AIX operating systems.

If you have both the v2.x and v3.x RA Web Service Agents in Applications Manager v9.0, they need to run on separate Applications Manager Agents.

Java Requirements

This Agent requires a supported version of the Java JDK. The PATH environment variable on the Agent machine must contain the path to the bin directory of a JDK. In order to compile RA Web Service SOAP Agent connection files, JDK must be in the PATH environment variable (before any other versions of the JDK). This way, the supported version of javac will be called to do the compiles.

If you do not wish to have the supported version of the JDK in the PATH or as the first JDK in your path, you can alternately use a -D option to specify the full path to the desired javac in the Service Manager utility command to start the Agent like the following:

-Dautomic.ra.webservice.javac=/usr/jdk<version>/bin/javac

Here is an example in the Service Manager utility: 

java -Dautomic.ra.webservice.javac=/etc/alternatives/javac  -jar /u01/users/agents/ra_webservices/bin/ucxjcitx.jar

If the -D value has a blank in it, the fully-pathed file must be enclosed in quotes like the following:

-Dautomic.ra.webservice.javac="C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk<version>\bin\javac.exe"

For information on supported Java versions, see the Automic Compatibility Checker.

You can get the necessary files to install Java from Oracle.

v3.3.0

What's New

This release contains no new features.

v3.2.0

What's New

This release contains no new features.

v3.1.0

What's New

  • The RA Web Service Agent is supported on Applications Manager v9 with this release.
  • If you are running the RA Web Service Agent in Automation Engine v11 or above, there is now a Create as Array checkbox is included on the Add dialog for parsings when you select Save as Variable in the Output Type field. When this checkbox is checked, the results are saved to an Automation Engine Array variable, where each value can be referenced numerically.
  • You can now override the full URI, resource, and query parameters for this Job RA Web Service REST Agent Jobs.
  • The new Send Empty SOAP Action Header checkbox on the Advanced tab for RA Web Service SOAP Agent Connection objects gives you the option to send an empty SOAP Action header value.
  • In RA Web Service SOAP Agent Jobs, you can navigate to the next:
    • Editable element with the F3 key.
    • Required editable element with the F4 key.

v3.0.1

What's New

This release contains no new features.

Change in Behavior: The Sub-Directory Used to Store RA Web Service Agent .jar Files for RA Web Service SOAP Agent Connections Is Now soapJars

As mentioned in PRB0306194 above, the sub-directory used to store WS .jar files for RA Web Service SOAP Agent connections is now soapJars rather than soapAdapter. Therefore, before running Jobs, you should go into your RA Web Service SOAP Agent Connection objects and re-retrieve the WSDL file on their General tab.

Change in Behavior: Displaying the Current Connection Object Setting for the URL Endpoint in RA Web Service SOAP Agent Jobs

The current Connection object setting for the URL endpoint is now displayed in the read-only Connection URL Endpoint field for RA Web Service SOAP Agent Jobs. It can be overridden in the URL Endpoint field.

v3.0.0

What's New

  • Added support for REST RA Web Service Agent Jobs with the following authentication types:
    • Basic
    • Digest
    • NTLM
    • Kerberos
    • OAuth 1.0a and 2.0
    • AWS Signed URL V2, V3, and V4
  • You can create response parsing queries for SOAP or RA Web Service REST Agent Jobs to extract values from the response. In the parsings, you determine the type, how the output is saved, and what the output name should be.
  • You can now define requests and responses for SOAP and RA Web Service REST Agent Jobs with an object editor in tree or table graphical modes.
  • For RA Web Service SOAP Agent Jobs, you can include and parse raw XML.
  • Attachment handling for RA Web Service SOAP Agent Jobs option now allows you to select from the following attachment options:
    • Inline - base64 encoded
    • SWA - Soap with attachments
    • MTOM - Inlined soap with attachments
  • RA Web Service SOAP Agent Connection objects now contain the WSDL and the necessary .jar file for marshalling XML into Java and back. In previous RA Web Service Agent releases, the WSDL was saved in the Agent definition in client 0.
  • Added support for secured WSDLs and the xsd:Any datatype.
  • Added support for AXIS 1.6.2 and Rampart 1.6.1, versus in 2.x we used AXIS 1.4 and Rampart 1.5.

Known Issues

  • RA Web Service Agents installed in a Windows environment must be started via the Service-Manager utility. If you start them from the command line, you will receive errors during adapter compilation.
  • Workflow Session management is not implemented in this release. Workflow Session management would be used for web services that are developed to be stateful. This is when the socket connection in the initial call would be persisted. Therefore, the session ID would not be required to return the initial response. Most SOAP services are designed where a session ID is returned upon authentication, this session ID can then be sent in follow-on method executions for authorization.