4 Ways to Invoke a WebService in Flex with MXML and ActionScript

Here is the file: TestWebService.mxml.

Solution #1) Webservice via MXML

My first solution was really easy; I found out how to call a webservice using MXML and I had a test web service running in no time.

<mx:WebService id="wsMXML" wsdl="http://www.flash-mx.com/ws/months.cfc?wsdl">
     <mx:operation name="getMonths" resultFormat="object" result="result1(event);" fault="fault(event);" />
</mx:WebService>

Then call "wsMXML.getMonths.send();"

And your result handler is:

var myObj:ArrayCollection = evt.result as ArrayCollection
textArea1.text = myObj[4].toString();

Problem was I found out I needed to do it in ActionScript. Hence solution #2.

Solution #2) Webservice via ActionScript

My next solution took me a little longer to figure out. I tried importing the WSDL via the Import Web Service feature in Flex Builder. Here's how:

- Click on: "Data | Import Web Service"
- Select the folder where the flex source code resides.
- Type in the name of the URL of the WSDL
- Click "Finish" or configure the call a little more on the next screen and then select "Finish".

This creates proxy classes for your webservice, so now you can call them just like your ActionScript classes. I used this WSDL http://ws.cdyne.com/emailverify/Emailvernotestemail.asmx?wsdl and then had to use this code:

var myWS:EmailVerNoTestEmail = new EmailVerNoTestEmail();
myWS.addverifyEmailEventListener(result3);
myWS.verifyEmail("sjobs@apple.com", null);

With this result handler:

var myObj:Object = evt.result;
textArea3.text = myObj.GoodEmail.toString();

Pretty neat... but then I found out that my WSDL was behind a firewall that was not accessible from any external systems. I had to come up with a new solution to load the webservice at runtime. Hence solution #3.

Solution #3) Webservice via ActionScript with a parameter

Same as one above but it sends a parameter.

Solution #4) Webservice at Runtime via ActionScript

My last solution worked (assuming you set up the cross-domain.xml correctly) the best for my situation.

var loginWS:WebService = new WebService();
loginWS.useProxy = false;
loginWS.VerifyEmail.addEventListener("result", result4);
loginWS.LoginOperation.resultFormat = 'e4x';
loginWS.addEventListener("fault", fault);
loginWS.loadWSDL('http://ws.cdyne.com/emailverify/Emailvernotestemail.asmx?wsdl'); loginWS.VerifyEmail("sjobs@apple.com", "?");

With this result handler:

var myObj:Object = evt.result as Object;
textArea4.text = myObj.ResponseText.toString();