Web Service Calls

from Within PL/SQL

The Bare Necessities
UTL_HTTP

 The UTL_HTTP package can be used to access data on the internet

over HTTP.
 If the package fetches data from a Web site using HTTPS (secure),
then it requires Oracle Wallet Manager (OWM) to set up an Oracle
wallet.
 Necessary Procedures:
 BEGIN_REQUEST
 SET_AUTHENTICATION (if password protected)
 GET_RESPONSE
 READ_TEXT
HTTPS calls

1. Get certificates for website (you will need the URL, username, and
password). *Demonstration
2. Store the certificates in an Oracle Wallet (using OWM).
3. Set the Wallet in your procedure using
UTL_HTTP.SET_WALLET(wallet.path, wallet.password);
UTL_HTTP.BEGIN_REQUEST

 UTL_HTTP.BEGIN_REQUEST (url IN VARCHAR2, method IN VARCHAR2 DEFAULT 'GET‘);

 If url has illegal or reserved characters (like spaces) use UTL_URL package
 If you desire to post to the website, then put ‘POST’ as the method. If you desire to
receive information from the website, then use ‘GET’.
 Returns request
UTL_HTTP.SET_AUTHENTICATION

 UTL_HTTP.SET_AUTHENTICATION(request, username, password);

 The request is the returned value after BEGIN_REQUEST.
 Obtain username and password from web service provider.
UTL_HTTP.GET_RESPONSE

 UTL_HTTP.GET_RESPONSE(request);
 Returns response.
 The request will be ended when this function returns (regardless of
exception) so there is no need for END_REQUEST.
UTL_HTTP.READ_TEXT

 UTTL_HTTP.READ_TEXT(response, response_txt, length);

 Response is the result of GET_RESPONSE.
 Response_txt is the out variable set as VARCHAR2.
 Length is the maximum length you desire the response_txt.
Need to query the response_txt?

 Your response may be a string of XML or JSON code. So what if you

need to store that data in an ORACLE relational database?
XML

 ORACLE needs to know that you desire to query XML not a

VARCHAR2 string.
 To change your data type to XMLTYPE do:
 L_xml := XMLTYPE.CREATEXML(l_response_txt);
 L_xml is a local variable of XMLTYPE

 ORACLE also needs to query from a table:

 To store your data into a table may I suggest a GTT:
 CREATE GLOBAL TEMPORARY TABLE xml_gtt OF XMLTYPE;
 INSERT INTO xml_gtt VALUES (l_xml);
XML (continued…)

 You can now query this data in this way (*assuming your xml data is
well formed):
 SELECT xtab.column1, xtab.column2, xtab.columnN
FROM xml_gtt x
,xmltable('/path1/path2/path3' passing
x.sys_nc_rowinfo$ columns
column1 VARCHAR2(100) path 'xmldata1'
,column2 VARCHAR2(100) path 'xmldata2'
,columnN VARCHAR2(20) path 'xmldataN') xtab;
 SYS_NC_ROWINFO$ is the default column name of the gtt.
 Example…
JSON

 Unlike querying XML, ORACLE can query a VARCHAR2 string of well-

formed JSON.
 To store your data into a table may I suggest a GTT:
 CREATE GLOBAL TEMPORARY TABLE json_gtt OF VARCHAR2;
 INSERT INTO json_gtt VALUES (response_txt);
 If desired you can put a constraint on your GTT that checks if your
JSON data is well-formed:
 CONSTRAINT ensure_json CHECK (response_txt IS JSON)
JSON (continued…)

 You can now query this data in a similar way as the XML data:
 SELECT jtab.column1, jtab.column2, jtab.columnN
FROM json_gtt j
,json_table(j.sys_nc_rowinfo$, '$.path1.path2.path3'
COLUMNS(
column1 NUMBER path 'jsondata1'
,column2 VARCHAR2(100) path 'jsondata2'
,columnN VARCHAR2(20) path 'jsondataN‘)) jtab;
 SYS_NC_ROWINFO$ is the default column name of the gtt.