Create an Invoke Web Service Action

Use the Invoke Web Service action to call a third-party Web service. For example, use this action when the code needs to update a database that is not accessible from the DPS application server. You can create these actions for user initiated workflows or scheduled workflows.

Warning: This workflow action requires knowledge of Web servers and/or the development of a Microsoft .NET assembly. If you do not have development experience, contact the Deltek Customer Care group for assistance.

When writing a Web service to be invoked via workflow, it is crucial that there is no attempt to either read or update the data being updated in the Save operation that triggered the workflow. Doing so causes the Web service’s database call to be blocked and results in a database lock. The database call then times out and the Web service call fails.

To create an invoke web service action:

1. In the Navigation pane, select Settings > Workflow, and then select either User Initiated Workflows or Scheduled Workflows.
2. On the User Initiated Workflows form or Scheduled Workflows form, use the drop-down list in the header field to select the hub or other area, such as employees or billing terms.
3. In the Workflows grid (or Scheduled Workflows grid), select the workflow row (event) to which you want to add the action.
4. In the Actions grid, click Add Action > Invoke Web Service.
5. In the Web Service Location field on the Web Service Configuration dialog box, enter the location of the Web service, using the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) location of the service. WSDL is an XML language for describing Web services. For example, http://www.webservicex.net/stockquote.asmx?WSDL.
6. In the Web Methods field, select a method from the list of methods defined by the Web service.
7. Under Arguments, set name-value pairs for each argument.
8. To refresh the list of available methods and arguments, click Refresh Methods.
9. Click Save. The action that you created is now listed in the Actions grid of the User Initiated Workflows form or Scheduled Workflows form.