In PAS for OpenEdge, transports handle HTTP requests and are built into the default ROOT (oeabl.war) application. Transports handle requests from clients that use any one of those protocols for communication with a web server.

Transports use reserved URLs to deliver different types of web services. The supported transports and their assigned URLs are described in the following table:
Transport Description URL Path
APSV Handles ABL clients, Java and .NET Open Clients requests. /apsv
REST Handles REST requests. /rest
SOAP Handles SOAP 1.1 requests. /soap
WEB Handles REST, classic WebSpeed, and HTTP requests. Offers the option to modernize your application with WebHandlers. /web
Note: It is not possible to remove the transport name from the URL path.
Note: Because a PAS for OpenEdge instance can contain one or more ABL web applications, if you are referencing an application other than the ROOT application, the URL path is preceded by the application name (for example, webapp_name/web).

ABL and web services

Additional information about ABL and web services:

  • ABL services are exposed using URI.
  • ABL services are grouped by transport, which is a path segment in the URI, for example, http://localhost:8810/webapp-name/rest.
  • ABL services are represented by a .paar file (REST transport), .wsm file (SOAP transport), or a WebHandler (WEB transport). APSV services must be moved to the PROPATH.
  • Transports can be secured independently. ABL services contribute authorization information to the OpenEdge ABL web application. For example, you can secure a transport URI so that it can only be accessed by an authenticated user with specific roles.
  • ABL services need service interfaces (.p or .cls files). Service interfaces are intended to translate input (HTTP messages) into ABL business logic calls, and the output of those calls back into HTTP. Service interfaces can also deal with error handling or perform additional authorization.
  • For more information, see Deployment artifacts in Manage Progress Application Server (PAS) for OpenEdge and Develop ABL Services in Develop ABL Services.