Web Service in Android

In this post I'm going to illustrate how we can access web service in Android using ksoap2-android project that provides a lightweight and efficient SOAP library for the Android platform.

You can download the jar file from following link;
http://ksoap2-android.googlecode.com/svn/m2-repo/com/google/code/ksoap2-android/ksoap2-android-assembly/2.5.8/ksoap2-android-assembly-2.5.8-jar-with-dependencies.jar

Here is the sample code that illustrate SOAP web service call. I have access a live web service ConvertWeight from http://www.webserviceX.NET/ which convert weight from one unit to another. I have set "envelope.dotNet = true;" in Line 53 since I'm accessing .NET web service. You can comment that line if your web service is not .NET one.
package com.sencide;

import org.ksoap2.SoapEnvelope;
import org.ksoap2.serialization.PropertyInfo;
import org.ksoap2.serialization.SoapObject;
import org.ksoap2.serialization.SoapPrimitive;
import org.ksoap2.serialization.SoapSerializationEnvelope;
import org.ksoap2.transport.HttpTransportSE;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class AndroidWebService extends Activity {

private final String NAMESPACE = "http://www.webserviceX.NET/";
private final String URL = "http://www.webservicex.net/ConvertWeight.asmx";
private final String SOAP_ACTION = "http://www.webserviceX.NET/ConvertWeight";
private final String METHOD_NAME = "ConvertWeight";

/** Called when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);

SoapObject request = new SoapObject(NAMESPACE, METHOD_NAME);

String weight = "3700";
String fromUnit = "Grams";
String toUnit = "Kilograms";

PropertyInfo weightProp =new PropertyInfo();
weightProp.setName("Weight");
weightProp.setValue(weight);
weightProp.setType(double.class);
request.addProperty(weightProp);

PropertyInfo fromProp =new PropertyInfo();
fromProp.setName("FromUnit");
fromProp.setValue(fromUnit);
fromProp.setType(String.class);
request.addProperty(fromProp);

PropertyInfo toProp =new PropertyInfo();
toProp.setName("ToUnit");
toProp.setValue(toUnit);
toProp.setType(String.class);
request.addProperty(toProp);

SoapSerializationEnvelope envelope = new SoapSerializationEnvelope(SoapEnvelope.VER11);
envelope.dotNet = true;
envelope.setOutputSoapObject(request);
HttpTransportSE androidHttpTransport = new HttpTransportSE(URL);

try {
androidHttpTransport.call(SOAP_ACTION, envelope);
SoapPrimitive response = (SoapPrimitive)envelope.getResponse();
Log.i("myApp", response.toString());

TextView tv = new TextView(this);
tv.setText(weight+" "+fromUnit+" equal "+response.toString()+ " "+toUnit);
setContentView(tv);

} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
You have to add INTERNET permission to AndroidManifest.xml as follows;

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"

      package="com.sencide"

      android:versionCode="1"

      android:versionName="1.0">

 

    <application android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_nam">

        <activity android:name=".AndroidWebService"

                  android:label="@string/app_name">

            <intent-filter>

                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />

            </intent-filter>

        </activity>

 

    </application>

     

    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"></uses-permission>

</manifest>

You can download the source code of above project (Password:sara). 

I have updated my previous code in the post Android Login Screen Using HttpClientto authenticate users from web service. There I have illustrate how you can start new activity if the login is successful. 

You can download the updated source code with sample .NET web service application (Password:sara).