MACROMEDIA ColdFusion MX, Develop Manual

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718 Chapter 32: Using Web Services
Handling inout and out parameters
Some web services define inout and out parameters. You use out parameters to pass a placeholder
for a return value to a web service. The web service then returns its result by writing it to the out
parameter.
Inout parameters let you pass a value to a web service and lets the web service return its
result by overwriting the parameter value.
The following example shows a web service that takes as input an inout parameter containing a
string and writes its results back to the string:
<cfset S="foo">
<cfscript>
ws=createobject("webservice", " URLtoWSDL ")
ws.modifyString("S");
<cfscript>
<cfoutput>#S#</cfoutput>
Even though this web service takes as input the value of S, because you pass it as an inout
parameter you do not enclose it in pound signs.
Note: ColdFusion MX supports the use of inout and out parameters to consume web services.
However, ColdFusion MX does not support inout and out parameters when creating web services for
publication.
Configuring web services in the ColdFusion MX Administrator
The ColdFusion MX Administrator lets you register web services so that you do not have to
specify the entire WSDL URL when you reference the web service.
Note: The first time you reference a web service, ColdFusion MX automatically registers it in the
Administrator.
For example, the following code references the URL to the BabelFish WSDL file:
<cfscript>
ws = CreateObject("webservice",
"http://www.xmethods.net/sd/2001/BabelFishService.wsdl" );
xlatstring = ws.BabelFish("en_es", "Hello world, friend");
writeoutput(xlatstring);
</cfscript>
If you register the BabelFish web service in the Administrator using, for example, the name
wsBabel, you could then reference the web service as follows:
<cfscript>
ws = CreateObject("webservice", "wsBabel");
xlatstring = ws.BabelFish("en_es", "Hello world, friend");
writeoutput(xlatstring);
</cfscript>
Not only does this enable you to shorten your code, registering a web service in the Administrator
lets you change a web service’s URL without modifying your code. So, if the BabelFish web
service moves to a new location, you only update the administrator setting, not your application
code.
For more information, see the ColdFusion MX Administrator online Help.