Web Services changes

The handling of NULL values for primitive types during serialization has changed

Starting from FGLGWS 5.01.00, there are changes to how nulls are handled in primitive types. Previously, when null values ​​were passed, the GWS sent null. Now error-15807 will be raised if a null value is sent. Where previously you did not have an option to allow null values, you must now review your code to explicitly allow nulls. The following is a summary of the behavioral changes for handling nulls in primitive types, objects, and arrays:

For more information about serialization, go to json.Serializer options.

Using the json_null="null" attribute with JSONRequired

Starting from FGLGWS 5.01.00, json.Serializer class introduces changes to how nulls are handled with JSONRequired.

Previously, when null values ​​were passed in a record, or on one of its primitive elements, marked with JSONRequired, the GWS sent null. Now serialization error-15807 will be raised if a null value is sent. Where previously you did not have an option to allow null values, you must now review your code to explicitly allow null values.

To explicitly allow a null value, you must set the json_null="null" attribute on the relevant field, or set the serializeNullAsDefault option for the The json.Serializer class to allow nulls.

For more information about JSONRequired attribute, go to JSONRequired.

New HttpRequest methods dynamically override FGLPROFILE entries

Starting from FGLGWS 5.01.00, new methods in the HttpRequest class have been implemented to allow you to override configurations in FGLPROFILE dynamically at runtime.

Calling setCertificateAndKey() overrides configuration for certificates that might be set in FGLPROFILE. Calling the setCipher() and setVerifyServer() override other parameters that may be set in FGLPROFILE.

While clearing a parameter using clearCertificateAndKey(), clearCipher(), and clearVerifyServer() resets values to the ones configured in FGLPROFILE.

For details, go to com.HttpRequest methods: connection options.

New xml.keystore.cadir entry in FGLPROFILE for XML signature verification

Starting from FGLGWS 5.01.00, an xml.keystore.cadir entry can be used to specify a directory for all trusted X509 certificates to be used during XML signature verification. Previously, you could only specify a priority list of certificates with the xml.keystore.calist entry.

Now, xml.keystore.cadir allows you to provide all the CA certificates in a directory. You can continue to use the xml.keystore.calist as before; as files in the "cadir" directory will be appended to those in xml.keystore.calist.

For more details, go to FGLPROFILE entries for XML configuration.

New json.Serializer.getLastErrorDescription() method has improved error messaging

Starting from FGLGWS 5.01.01, a new method in the json.Serializer class has been implemented to allow you return last generated serialization error message.

Calling json.Serializer.getLastErrorDescription returns a more complete message than sqlca.sqlerrm. It will return the name of the class to identify the source of the error, the name of the fields, when known, along with a detailed description of the error.

Specific exception -15582 for status code not in the range 200 - 299

Starting from FGLGWS 5.00.00 and 5.01.02, the GWS method com.WebServiceEngine.SetRestStatus raises a specific error code -15582, when the status code is not in the range 200 - 299.

Specific exception -15583 when setting a LANG value not recognized by iconv

Starting from FGLGWS 5.01.02, the GWS raises a specific error code -15583 when the LANG value is not a codeset recognized by iconv.

Register web services and resources from a package

Starting from FGLGWS 5.01.02, the GWS supports package-style modules in the com.WebServiceEngine.RegisterRestService() and com.WebServiceEngine.RegisterRestResources() methods.

No action needs to be taken on your part, but if you have previously wanted to use a Genero BDL package when registering web services, this is now possible.

For more information on how to use this feature, go to com.WebServiceEngine.RegisterRestService or com.WebServiceEngine.RegisterRestResources.

New json.Serializer option for handling implicit conversion

To implement strict JSON schema validation while allowing flexibility when needed, we are introducing an option for implicit conversions during JSON to BDL deserialization.

Starting with FGLGWS 5.01.03, the global option allowImplicitConversion in json.Serializer permits implicit type conversion for INTEGER/NUMBER(DECIMAL), BOOLEAN, and STRING values in an array. For example, a boolean value can be represented as 1, 0, true, false, "true", "false", or "1", "0".

You can now use CALL json.Serializer.setOption("allowImplicitConversion", 1) in your server module to enable this option and avoid deserialization errors related to type mismatches.

For details, go to json.Serializer options.

fglrestful now recognizes +json media types (RFC 6839)

Starting from FGLGWS 5.01.06 and 6.00.03, the fglrestful tool recognizes all media types derived from JSON via the +json structured syntax suffix defined by RFC 6839 (external link). Previously, only application/json and text/json were recognized; other +json media types in OpenAPI content sections were handled as binary, causing the generated client stub code to expect binary data rather than JSON.

No action is required. If your OpenAPI specification uses +json media types such as application/problem+json or application/vnd.api+json, fglrestful now generates the corresponding client stub code from the associated OpenAPI schema, with JSON serialization of the request body and JSON parsing of the response.

For more details about supported media types, go to fglrestful.

fglrestful now detects text/event-stream (SSE) responses

Starting from FGLGWS 5.01.07 and 6.00.03, fglrestful detects the text/event-stream (Server-Sent Events, SSE) response content type but does not generate response-handling code for it, because the Genero HTTP client does not provide an API to consume SSE streams. Previously, fglrestful could generate an incorrect response handler for SSE responses.

No action is required if your OpenAPI specification uses text/event-stream alongside another response content type. If text/event-stream is the only declared response content type, fglrestful skips the operation, issues a warning, and writes the operation as a comment in the generated .4gl file (run fglrestful with -W yes to list skipped operations). You must implement SSE handling manually if you need this operation. For more about SSE, see Server-Sent Events on MDN.

For more details about supported media types, go to fglrestful.

CHAR(n) fields now include maxLength in the OpenAPI schema

Starting from FGLGWS 5.01.07 and 6.00.03, the OpenAPI specification generated for a REST service includes maxLength: n for a CHAR(n) field, aligning it with VARCHAR(n); a client stub regenerated with fglrestful maps the field to VARCHAR(n) instead of STRING. Where previously CHAR(n) produced only type: string, you must now review stub files generated for services that expose CHAR(n) fields, or pass --ignore-restrictions to retain the STRING mapping. See OpenAPI types mapping: BDL.

Discontinued support for OCSP

We are discontinuing support for the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) due to the decision by several Certificate Authorities to phase out support for this protocol in web services. However, please note that the OCSP functionality will remain intact within our product, allowing you to continue using this feature as part of your secure communications.

For more information on OCSP, go to Enable OCSP.

Restored HandleRequest() behavior for root-level query-only requests

The behavior of com.WebServiceEngine.HandleRequest() for root‑level, query‑only requests has been restored to match versions prior to 5.01.02 and 4.01.09. The sequence of changes is as follows:

This restoration ensures compatibility with existing applications that depend on low‑level handling of root‑level query‑only requests.

For more details and examples, go to com.WebServiceEngine.HandleRequest

Improved communication protocol between GAS and GWS

The communication protocol between the Genero Application Server (GAS) and the Genero Web Service (GWS) processes has been updated to improve reliability, specifically to ensure that no connections are lost when the GWS process needs extra time to stop or restart. Prior to this update, if the GWS process needed time to stop, connections could be lost or requests could be sent before the service was ready. The protocol was enhanced so that gwsproxy now ensures fglrun is ready to receive the next request before proceeding.

To ensure you are using this improved communication protocol between the GAS and your GWS applications, ensure you are using the following version pairs (or greater):

• FGLGWS 5.01.06 and GAS 5.01.05