FatWire ContentServer and Web Services

Question

Greetings,

I am working with a FatWire CS, and need to incorporate Web services. FatWire has tags for this, but the previous devs on this system chose to build a homegrown solution rather than use what FatWire offered. The big problem now is that the homegrown solutions don't get updated (and typically stop working) when we upgrade FatWire. (I like building my own stuff too, but I must say I am amazed at how many devs make short-sighted decisions like this... sure, it worked when it needed to, but now it's just a mess)

Now, with that said, I have to admit FatWire doesn't offer a lot in the way of examples, and the documentation on Web services is quite thin. So I can see why one might be tempted to do something else. Nevertheless, I am determined to get this working the way FatWire intended.

So, what I am looking for is someone who has done Web services in FatWire before, and/or some sample code. I've generated my client, and I have all the JARs I need... I'm just a bit stumped on wiring it up in a way FatWire likes.

Judging from the very small number of FatWire posts here, I am cautiously optimistic that someone might be able to help. There is a Yahoo group for FatWire, but I just have an innate aversion to Yahoo groups, I guess.

TIA!

Answer 1

Well, I suppose I am going to answer my own question. According to one of the FatWire guys, what ships w/ FatWire (ie: the webservices:invoke tag) definitely should not be used. It has also been acknowledged that their documentation is pretty sorely lacking in this area.

So, if you're working in FatWire and need to expose/consume Web services, do it the way you would normally write a JEE Web services solution. Until they complete (or just redo altogether) their framework, you will eventually find that you have no other choice.

Hope this helps to save someone some time!

Answer 2

Not sure whether this will be useful for you. My assumption is that your webservices work is intended to expose the content present in FW. If yes, try their Web Experience Framework (WEM) REST APIs. I am trying out those for a prototype I am working on right now, no complaints yet.