Calling Leap REST API from Java Code

Owned by Marty Lechleider
Last updated: Oct 19, 2018
5 min read

This weeks blog entry is all about how to call the Leap REST API from a Java application.  Once you are able to connect to your Leap server and interact with your form data it really opens up all kinds of new opportunities.  You could build some really cool features into your applications and Leap integration implementations.  This article will be pretty deep into the the code, so hopefully I am clear enough for you to follow along.  If you want to jump straight to the files and try it yourself feel free.

The code presented in this article is not necessarily "production-ready", although the code functions it may be missing proper error-handling in all cases.  The code is provided as a working example of how to connect to and interact with the Leap REST API.  The onus is left to the reader to insure that any code used in production is properly tested and modified to include proper error handling.

The first thing that I set out to do is to build a utility class that will handle the actual connection/communication code.  The basic flow of a java application to communicate with a REST API is as follows:


1. Establish a connection to the URL (either secure or regular)

URL url = new URL(theUrl); HttpsURLConnection conn = (HttpsURLConnection) url.openConnection();


2. Set connection properties (headers, authorization, method, etc)

   secureUrlConnection.setSSLSocketFactory(getSSLContext(SSLProtocol).getSocketFactory());                
   secureUrlConnection.setHostnameVerifier(getHostNameVerifier());
   secureUrlConnection.setRequestMethod(method);                        
   secureUrlConnection.setRequestProperty("Accept", returnFormat);
   secureUrlConnection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", returnFormat);
   secureUrlConnection.setRequestProperty("Authorization", "Basic " + getEncodedString(user, pwd));


3. (optional) Write content to be sent along with the URL request

4. Do something with the response from the request

5. Close the connection


To simplify the code and boost understanding, I write all the REST API responses to temporary files and I also read in the posted content from temporary files as well.  In each example that I go through I:

1. Establish an instance of the FEBUtilty class that contains the helper functions I wrote for connecting to the REST API.

   

FEBUtility fu = new FEBUtility();

2. I define the location of the file that will contain the response from calling the REST URL.

  

 f = "c:\\temp\\FEBREST_RETRIEVE_OUT.txt";

3. I create the URL

   REST_URL = "https://tapintofeb.victoria.ibm.com/forms-basic/secure/org/data/03739889-76ba-4231-825d-74831e521c45/F_Form1/06708c2e-d73e-40cf-8151-5ed62f4b606c";

4. I call the function that calls the FEB REST URL.

If you are connecting to a secure (https) URL then you have to specify the communication protocol and pass "true" to indicate that it is a secure connection:

   o = fu.getOutputStreamForURL(REST_URL, "TLSv1.2", "GET", "application/json", true, user, pwd, false, null, null);

or if you are just connecting to http you can pass null and false:

 

  o = fu.getOutputStreamForURL(REST_URL, null, "GET", "application/json", false, user, pwd, false, null, null);

5. I print out the HTTP response code and response message.

   

System.out.println(fu.responseCode + " :: " + fu.responseMsg);

6. I print the response to a file.

   

fu.printStreamToFile(o, f);


Setup Steps

1. Download the Java code.  Create a java application with in your favorite Java editor (i.e. Rational Application Developer, Eclipse, etc)

SampleMain.java

FEBUtility.java

2. Download the Sample FEB Application.  The application was built in 8.6.4.1 and cannot be imported to an older FEB version.  When you import the application, choose to import with data, it contains a sample record that will be used in the example below.

RESTAPIExample.nitro_s

3. Download the sample input and output files for each REST API URL.

RestApi_InputFiles.zip

 Retrieve a Single Record

This REST URL will retrieve all the data for a specific form submission.  The IDs supplied are the ones for the provided sample application and it will return a valid record.

f = "c:\\temp\\FEBREST_RETRIEVE_OUT.txt";
   REST_URL = "http://localhost:9081/forms-basic/secure/org/data/03739889-76ba-4231-825d-74831e521c45/F_Form1/d1a119ab-0c63-4648-8bbc-4b5dd9360943";
   o = fu.getOutputStreamForURL(REST_URL, null, "GET", "application/json", false, user, pwd, false, null, null);
   System.out.println(fu.responseCode + " :: " + fu.responseMsg);
        
   try {
      fu.printStreamToFile(o, f);
   } catch (IOException e) {

      e.printStackTrace();
   }

For you to test this code against your own local FEB you would have to modify a few things:

1. The server host name and port (optional)

2. The APP ID of the app that you want to query.  You can find the app id in the details of your application on the Manage page.

3. The Form ID, this is the ID of the form that you are querying

4. The Record ID, this is the ID of the specific record that you want to return

5. Specify your user and pwd that will be used to make the REST request

6. Modify the location of where the response file will be created.

 List all the Records for a Form

This REST URL will return all the submitted records for a specific form within an application.

f = "c:\\temp\\FEBREST_ALL_OUT.txt";
REST_URL = "http://localhost:9081/forms-basic/secure/org/data/03739889-76ba-4231-825d-74831e521c45/F_Form1";

o = fu.getOutputStreamForURL(REST_URL, null, "GET", "application/atom+xml", false, user, pwd, false, null, null);
System.out.println(fu.responseCode + " :: " + fu.responseMsg);

try {
    fu.printStreamToFile(o, f);
} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}


Once again you will have to update the same items as above.

Create a Record

This REST URL will create a form submission for a specific Form.

f = "c:\\temp\\FEBREST_CREATE_OUT.txt";
REST_URL = "http://localhost:9081/forms-basic/secure/org/data/03739889-76ba-4231-825d-74831e521c45/F_Form1";
createContent = "c:\\temp\\FEBREST_CREATE_IN.txt";
o = fu.getOutputStreamForURL(REST_URL, null, "POST", "application/json", false, user, pwd, true, createContent, null);
System.out.println(fu.responseCode + " :: " + fu.responseMsg);

try {
    fu.printStreamToFile(o, f);
} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

Once again you will have to update the same items as above.  If you check the output of the create you will see the JSON object (or XML if you changed the return format) for that newly created record.  This will become important in the next REST URL section.

Update a Record

This REST URL will update a single form submission.

f = "c:\\temp\\FEBREST_UPDATE_OUT.txt";
REST_URL = "http://localhost:9081/forms-basic/secure/org/data/03739889-76ba-4231-825d-74831e521c45/F_Form1/d1a119ab-0c63-4648-8bbc-4b5dd9360943?freedomIdentifyKey=1";
createContent = "c:\\temp\\FEBREST_UPDATE_IN.txt";
o = fu.getOutputStreamForURL(REST_URL, null, "PUT", "application/json", false, user, pwd, true, createContent, "1");
System.out.println(fu.responseCode + " :: " + fu.responseMsg);

try {
    fu.printStreamToFile(o, f);
} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}


Now with update, we see that I have added something new to the URL, "freedomIdentifyKey=1".  This is an added security measure that by default in 8.6.4 is required for ALL REST API queries.  The last parameter of the function is also passing the same "1" value, if you change what you pass in the URL then you will have to change the parameter as well.

The extra addition to this request is content that needs to be posted to the server along with the request.  When you are updating a record you need to send the XML or JSON that represents the updates to a record.  When you are updating a record you must:

1. Provide data for all required fields

2. Specify the uid

3. Specify the stage that the record is currently in (flowState)

4. Specify the ID of the button that is being pressed (pressedButton)

A file has been provided (FEBREST_UPDATE_IN.txt) that can be used to update the record in the sample FEB application.


Delete a Record

This REST URL will delete a single form submission.

f = "c:\\temp\\FEBREST_DELETE_OUT.txt";
REST_URL = "http://localhost:9081/forms-basic/secure/org/data/03739889-76ba-4231-825d-74831e521c45/F_Form1/d1a119ab-0c63-4648-8bbc-4b5dd9360943?freedomIdentifyKey=1";
       
o = fu.getOutputStreamForURL(REST_URL, null, "DELETE", "application/json", false, user, pwd, false, null, "1");

System.out.println(fu.responseCode + " :: " + fu.responseMsg);
try {
    fu.printStreamToFile(o, f);
} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

We have now gone through all the operations and you should have a pretty good idea of how to now interact with the FEB REST API from Java code.  Now a new wide world is open to you as you want to integrate FEB with existing systems or further enhance your applications with custom code.

 One example I can think of is a routine that pulls FEB records, checks how long they have been in a certain stage and then sends a notification to the owner (next actor) if longer then desired.  There are so many cool things that you can do once you know how to interact with the FEB API.

Good luck and I hope to see you again!


Modified on Apr 7 2017 by Christopher Dawes