which Dynamics NAV web service to use

Question

I need to build a custom web service in Dynamics NAV 2009 to communicate with E-commerce site.
I'm new to Dynamics NAV and I'm not sure if I should use page or codeunit webservice. Can page web services be customised since i only need to read from the web service ?

Which one should I use ? Please help

Answer 1

I would prefer to use a codeunit instead of a page because you'll get more flexibility. You can use a xmlport as dataobject and implement custom filter etc. via the codeunit Parameters.

Please have a look at the following blog from Dynamics nav Team: Using XMLports With Web Services

Answer 2

You Should Use CodeUnit for web Service
1.) Add the reference of that codeunit in your website code
2.) than call that codeunit by using web Reference
3.) By using codeunit you can run different objects of Dynamics Nav in future you just have to add these objects in dynamics nav.

If you need more help you can ask i have worked on similar task.

Answer 3

This depends if Nav is being "Pushed" into Nav, or is "Pulling" the data.

Pushing into Nav

If the data is being Pushed into Nav, then you need to use Pages. These pages should have a header and line structure. A good starting point is Page 42 (Sales Order). This Webservice will allow you to create a sales order and have multiple products on the order.

If you add extra field to a page, it will automatically be present in the web service.

It is not recommended to use CodeUnits for this, as you have to make multiple calls (one for each line on the order) whereas using pages, you can add all lines to an order at the same time. Data consistency issues can happen (imagine 4 calls, but one of these fails - there's no way to track which one) - if done with pages, it's a single call and if it fails, Nav will roll back the changes.

Pulling by Nav

If Nav is pulling the data from the e-commerce site, it needs to be a CodeUnit.

This CodeUnit could run in Job Queue or manually by the user. This codeunit would then form the correct requests to connect to the API on the website. It would pull the orders down, then populate the Sales Header / Sales Lines correctly.