Create a stand-alone Web Services application using Eclipse and Java SE 6, part 2nd

Creating a stand-alone Web Services application using Eclipse and Java SE 6, part 2nd: Web Service client applications

Before you start

About this series

This series of tutorials demonstrates how to use Java SE 6 to create stand-alone Web service server and client applications that can easily run from the command line rather than from the Web application Servers container. In the simple Hello World example, you will use the Eclipse IDE, Java SE 6, and Apache Ant to easily create fully functional WEB service server and client applications. You will also use TCP/IP Monitor to check traffic between the server and the client and test the Web service using the Eclipse WEB Services Explorer tool.

About this tutorial

This tutorial is the 2nd part of this series that describes how to create a stand-alone Web service client application to communicate with a stand-alone Web service that is developed and deployed in part 1th. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to develop and deploy a WEB service client application using the Eclipse IDE, Java SE 6, and Ant.

Goal

After completing this tutorial, you should know:

How to create a Web service client by using the Eclipse IDE to generate code, using Java SE 6 to compile code.

How to use the Java-based build tools Ant in the Eclipse IDE to run specialized Java commands to generate some code from the WSDL published in part 1th of this series.

How to use TCP/IP Monitor in the Eclipse IDE to observe, capture, and verify the Web service SOAP transport between the server and the client.

How to run server and client applications directly from the command line outside of the Eclipse IDE.

Prerequisite

This tutorial includes simple steps written for elementary and intermediate Java programmers with practical knowledge of Java language and Ant constructs. Beginners to more advanced Java developers will gain some knowledge: Learn how to build, deploy, and run stand-alone WEB service server and distributed clients to provide firewall-friendly remote communications and application processing.

System Requirements

To follow the example, you need to download:

Eclipse IDE for Java EE developers

Java SE 6

You do not have to download Ant because its functionality is packaged with Eclipse. This tutorial uses the Ganymede Package for the Eclipse IDE for Java EE developers.

Create a new project

As you may recall, in part 1th, an Eclipse project contains the source code and other related files for the application. You can use the project as a source code container, or create a folder in your project to organize your files. In order to create a WEB service client, you need to create a new project:

Select File > New > Project.

Expand the Java folder and click Java Project (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Create a project in Eclipse