SQL Server SOAP API Connector In this article you will learn how to integrate SOAP API data to SQL Server without coding in just a few clicks (live / bi-directional connection to SOAP API). SOAP Connector can be used to consume data from XML SOAP Service without any programmin. It supports advanced filtering along with flexible approach to configure request parameters for web service.. Using SOAP API Connector you will be able to connect, read, and write data from within SQL Server. Follow the steps below to see how we would accomplish that. Download  Help File  Buy  Driver mentioned in this article is part of ODBC PowerPack which is a collection of high-performance Drivers for various API data source (i.e. REST API, JSON, XML, CSV, Amazon S3 and many more). Using familiar SQL query language you can make live connections and read/write data from API sources or JSON / XML / CSV Files inside SQL Server (T-SQL) or your favorite Reporting (i.e. Power BI, Tableau, Qlik, SSRS, MicroStrategy, Excel, MS Access), ETL Tools (i.e. Informatica, Talend, Pentaho, SSIS). You can also call our drivers from programming languages such as JAVA, C#, Python, PowerShell etc. If you are new to ODBC and ZappySys ODBC PowerPack then check the following links to get started. ODBC PowerPack - System Requirements and Installation Getting Started - Using ODBC PowerPack ODBC API Driver Help File

See also Connect Soap in SSIS Connect Soap in Power BI Connect Soap in SSRS Connect Soap in Informatica Connect Soap in MS Access Connect Soap in MS Excel Connect Soap in SSAS Connect Soap in C# Connect Soap in Python Connect Soap in JAVA Connect Soap in Tableau Connect Soap in SAP Crystal Reports Connect Soap in Azure Data Factory (ADF) Connect Soap in ODBC

Video Tutorial - Integrate SOAP API data in SQL Server

This video covers following and more so watch carefully. After watching this video follow the steps described in this article.

• How to download / install required driver for SOAP API integration in SQL Server
• How to configure connection for SOAP API
• Features about XML Driver (Authentication / Query Language / Examples / Driver UI)
• Using SOAP API Connection in SQL Server

What is SOAP Web Service?

If you are new to SOAP Web Service sometimes referred as XML Web Service then please read some concept about SOAP Web service standard from this link

There are two important aspects in SOAP Web service.

1. Getting WSDL file or URL
2. Knowing exact Web Service URL

What is WSDL

In very simple term WSDL (often pronounced as whiz-dull) is nothing but a document which describes Service metadata (e.g. Functions you can call, Request parameters, response structure etc). Some service simply give you WSDL as xml file you can download on local machine and then analyze or sometimes you may get direct URL (e.g. http://api.mycompany.com/hr-soap-service/?wsdl )

What is Service URL

Service URL is actual API URL you can call to get data. When you make a request to SOAP service url make sure following things.

1. Use correct service URL (Its not same as WSDL url). If you are not sure about service URL contact API vendor or refer API documentation.
2. Each service call you have to supply function you want to call. This can be done in 3 different ways.
   1. Pass via SOAPAction HTTP Header
   2. Pass via Url parameter or Url Path (http://myserver/service/function1  — http://myserver/service/?method=function1 )
   3. Pass via Request BODY
3. Find out how to pass credentials. It can be done via Basic Authorization or WSS Security Header in the Request body. Check this link to learn more

Using SoapUI to test SOAP API call / Create Request Body XML

If you do not have WSDL file or URL handy then contact your API provider (sometimes you just have to add ?wsdl at the end of your Service URL to get WSDL so try that. Example: http://mycompany/myservice?wsdl ). If you don't know what is WSDL then in short, WSDL is Web service Description Language (i.e. XML file which describes your SOAP Service). WSDL helps to craft SOAP API request Body for ZappySys XML Driver. So Let's get started.

1. Download and Install SoapUI (It’s a Free tool to test SOAP / REST Services)
2. Open SoapUI and click SOAP button to create new SOAP Project
3. Enter WSDL URL or File Path of WSDLFor example WSDL for our sample service can be accessed via this URL

   http://www.holidaywebservice.com/HolidayService_v2/HolidayService2.asmx?wsdl

   
   Create new SOAP API Project in SoapUI tool for SOAP API Testing
4. Once WSDL is loaded you will see possible operations you can call for your SOAP Web Service.
5. If your web service requires credentials then you have to configure it. There are two common credential types for public services (SOAP WSS or BASIC )
   1. To use SOAP WSS Credentials select request node and enter UserId, Password, and WSS-PasswordType (PasswordText or PasswordHash)
      
      Configure SOAP WSS Credentials for SoapUI (SOAP API Testing Tool)
   2. To use BASIC Auth Credentials select request node and double-click it. At the bottom click on Auth (Basic) and From Authorization dropdown click Add New and Select Basic.
      Configure Basic Authorization for SoapUI (SOAP API Testing Tool)
6. Now you can test your request first Double-click on the request node to open request editor.
7. Change necessary parameters, remove optional or unwanted parameters. If you want to regenerate request you can click on Recreate default request toolbar icon.
   Create SOAP Request XML (With Optional Parameters)
8. Once your SOAP Request XML is ready, Click the Play button in the toolbar to execute SOAP API Request and Response will appear in Right side panel.
   Test SOAP API using SoapUI Tool (Change Default XML Body / Parameters, Execute and See Response)

Once you have tested your SOAP API in SoapUI tool, we are ready to use ZappySys SSIS Tasks/Components or ODBC Drivers to call SOAP API in SSIS or your preferred BI tool or Programming language.

Create Data Source in ZappySys Data Gateway based on ZappySys XML Driver

1. Download and install ZappySys ODBC PowerPack.

2. Search for gateway in start menu and Open ZappySys Data Gateway:
   

3. Go to Users Tab to add our first Gateway user. Click Add; we will give it a name tdsuser and enter password you like to give. Check Admin option and click OK to save. We will use these details later when we create linked server:
   

4. Now we are ready to add a data source. Click Add, give data source a name (Copy this name somewhere, we will need it later) and then select Native - ZappySys XML Driver. Finally, click OK.

   

5. Configure API URL, Request Method and Request Body as below screen. Select Url or File and paste the following Url for this example.
   
   NOTE: Here i am using demo SOAP API URL, but you need to refer your own API documentation and based on that you need to use your own API URL and need to configure connection based on API Authentication type.

   http://www.holidaywebservice.com/HolidayService_v2/HolidayService2.asmx?wsdl
   
   
   

   ZappySys XML Driver - Calling SOAP API - Configure URL, Method, Body

6. (This step is Optional) If your SOAP API requires credentials then Select Connection Type to HTTP and configure as below.

   

   ZappySys XML Driver - Configure SOAP WSS Credentials or Basic Authorization (Userid, Password)

7. Configure-Request Headers as below (You can get it from Request > Raw tab from SoapUI after you test the request by clicking the Play button)

   

   Configure SOAP API Request Headers - ZappySys XML Driver

8. Once credentials entered you can select Filter to extract data from the desired node. Make sure to select array node (see special icon) or select the node which contains all necessary columns if you don't have array node.

   

   Select Filter - Extract data from nested XML / SOAP API Response (Denormalize Hierarchy)

9. If prompted select yes to treat selected node as Array (This is helpful when you expect one or more record for selected node)

   

   Treat selected node as XML Array Option for SOAP API Response XML

10. Once the data source has been configured, Go to Preview tab and click on preview data to view the data.
    You can create the default query, generated based on settings you entered in previous sections also, by using Query Builder. Attributes listed in WITH clause are optional. If you omit attribute in WITH clause it will use it from Properties tab.

    

    Preview SOAP API Response in ZappySys XML Driver

11. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

12. That's it; we are done. In a few clicks we configured the call to SOAP API using ZappySys SOAP Connector.

Read data in SQL Server from the ZappySys Data Gateway data source

1. To read the data in SQL Server the first thing you have to do is create a Linked Server. Go to SQL Server Management Studio and configure it in a similar way:

2. Then click on Security option and configure username we created in ZappySys Data Gateway in one of the previous steps:

3. Finally, open a new query and execute a query we saved in one of the previous steps:
   

   SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([MY_LINKED_SERVER_NAME], 'SELECT * FROM Products');

   

Firewall settings

So far we have assumed that Gateway is running on the same machine as SQL Server. However there will be a case when ZappySys ODBC PowerPack is installed on a different machine than SQL Server. In such case you may have to perform additional Firewall configurations. On most computers firewall settings wont allow outside traffic to ZappySys Data Gateway. In such case perform following steps to allow other machines to connect to Gateway.

Method-1 (Preferred)

If you are using newer version of ZappySys Data Gateway then adding firewall rule is just a single click.

1. Search for gateway in start menu and open ZappySys Data Gateway.
2. Go to Firewall Tab and click Add Firewall Rule button like below. This will create Firewall rule to all Inbound Traffic on Port 5000 (Unless you changed it).

Method-2 Here is another way to add / edit Inbound Traffic rule in windows firewall. Use below method if you choose to customize your rule (for advanced users).

1. Search for Windows Firewall Advanced Security in start menu.
2. Under Inbound Rules > Right click and click [New Rule] >> Click Next
3. Select Port on Rule Type >> Click Next
4. Click on TCP and enter port number under specified local port as 5000 (use different one if you changed Default port) >> Click Next
5. Select Profile (i.e. Private, Public) >> Click Next
6. Enter Rule name [i.e. ZappySys Data Gateway – Allow Inbound ] >> Click Next
7. Click OK to save the rule

OPENQUERY vs EXEC (handling larger SQL text)

So far we have seen examples of using OPENQUERY. It allows us to send pass-through query at remote server. The biggest limitation of OPENQUERY is it doesn't allow you to use variables inside SQL so often we have to use unpleasant looking dynamic SQL (Lots of tick, tick …. and escape hell). Well there is good news. With SQL 2005 and later you can use EXEC(your_sql) AT your_linked_server syntax . Disadvantage of EXEC AT is you cannot do SELECT INTO like OPENQUERY. Also you cannot perform JOIN like below in EXEC AT

    SELECT a.* FROM OPENQUERY(ls_json,'select * from value') a
    JOIN OPENQUERY(ls_json,'select * from value') b ON a.id=b.id;

However you can always do INSERT INTO MyTable EXEC(…) AT LINKEDSRV. So table must exists when you do that way. Here is how to use it. To use EXEC AT you must turn on RPC OUT option. Notice how we used variable in SQL to make it dynamic. This is much cleaner than previous approach we saw.

USE [master]
GO

EXEC master.dbo.sp_addlinkedserver @server = N'ls_Json', @srvproduct=N'', @provider=N'SQLNCLI', @datasrc=N'localhost,5000', @provstr=N'Network Library=DBMSSOCN;', @catalog=N'JsonApi';
EXEC master.dbo.sp_addlinkedsrvlogin @rmtsrvname=N'ls_Json',@useself=N'False',@locallogin=NULL,@rmtuser=N'tdsuser',@rmtpassword='########';
GO

EXEC sp_serveroption 'ls_Json', 'rpc out', true;
go

declare @tbl varchar(100)='$';
EXEC('select * from ' + @tbl ) AT ls_Json;

Here is the difference between OPENQUERY vs EXEC approaches:

Create Custom Store Procedure in ZappySys Driver

You can create procedures to encapsulate custom logic and then only pass handful parameters rather than long SQL to execute your API call.

Steps to create Custom Store Procedure in ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here

1. Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Procedure:
   

2. Enter the desired Procedure name and click on OK:
   

3. Select the created Store Procedure and write the your desired store procedure and Save it and it will create the custom store procedure in the ZappySys Driver:
   Here is an example stored procedure for ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders anywhere inside Procedure Body. Read more about placeholders here
   

   CREATE PROCEDURE [usp_get_orders]
       @fromdate = '<<yyyy-MM-dd,FUN_TODAY>>'
    AS
       SELECT * FROM Orders where OrderDate >= '<@fromdate>';
   

   
   

4. That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your Store Procedure using Exec Command. In this example it will extract the orders from the date 1996-01-01:
   

   Exec usp_get_orders '1996-01-01';

   
   

Create Custom Virtual Table in ZappySys Driver

ZappySys API Drivers support flexible Query language so you can override Default Properties you configured on Data Source such as URL, Body. This way you don't have to create multiple Data Sources if you like to read data from multiple EndPoints. However not every application support supplying custom SQL to driver so you can only select Table from list returned from driver.

Many applications like MS Access, Informatica Designer wont give you option to specify custom SQL when you import Objects. In such case Virtual Table is very useful. You can create many Virtual Tables on the same Data Source (e.g. If you have 50 URLs with slight variations you can create virtual tables with just URL as Parameter setting.

1. Go to Custom Objects Tab and Click on Add button and Select Add Table:
   

2. Enter the desired Table name and click on OK:
   

3. And it will open the New Query Window Click on Cancel to close that window and go to Custom Objects Tab.

4. Select the created table, Select Text Type AS SQL and write the your desired SQL Query and Save it and it will create the custom table in the ZappySys Driver:
   Here is an example SQL query for ZappySys Driver. You can insert Placeholders also. Read more about placeholders here
   

   SELECT
     "ShipCountry",
     "OrderID",
     "CustomerID",
     "EmployeeID",
     "OrderDate",
     "RequiredDate",
     "ShippedDate",
     "ShipVia",
     "Freight",
     "ShipName",
     "ShipAddress",
     "ShipCity",
     "ShipRegion",
     "ShipPostalCode"
   FROM "Orders"
   Where "ShipCountry"='USA'

   
   

5. That's it now go to Preview Tab and Execute your custom virtual table query. In this example it will extract the orders for the USA Shipping Country only:
   

   SELECT * FROM "vt__usa_orders_only"

   
   

Conclusion

In this article we discussed how to connect to SOAP API in SQL Server and integrate data without any coding. Click here to Download SOAP API Connector for SQL Server and try yourself see how easy it is. If you still have any question(s) then ask here or simply click on live chat icon below and ask our expert (see bottom-right corner of this page).

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