VAT ID Check using XML-RPC

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1

I need to check the VAT Id of a client. This is possible using XML-RPC. Example of such a call (the query keys have to be exactly as in the example):

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As text:
https://evatr.bff-online.de/evatrRPC?UstId_1=DE812673471&UstId_2=IE9672540N&Firmenname=&Ort=&PLZ=&Strasse=

If the client VAT Id is found, the ErrorCode 200 for success is returned (result in Postman):

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However, WeWeb returns each character in the response as a separate string and the Result key has no effect:

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The characters correspond exactly to the Postman response:

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Here’s the data source definition (bypass CORS is required; otherwise error):

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How can I return the ErrorCode only (which I will evaluate then)?

2

I just tried with the Rest API plugin, seems to give the correct result.
Hadd to use CORS proxy, probably because it should be requested from backend??

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3

Hi Thomas,

Thank you very much for this fast and helpful reply!
I didn’t try using the call in a workflow but just had a look at the result in the collection definition. I will continue working on this tomorrow, but I’m sure you found the solution. Thank you again!
Best regards,
Bert

4

Hi Thomas,

In the beginning, the workflow didn’t work as intended. But I eventually found the 2 issues:

  1. The RPC only works using GET, not POST.
  2. The response seemed to be contained in a data string like this:
    " UstId_1 ErrorCode 215 UstId_2 Druck nein Erg_PLZ Ort Datum 08.08.2024 PLZ Erg_Ort Uhrzeit 11:48:39 Erg_Name Gueltig_ab Gueltig_bis Strasse Firmenname Erg_Str "

I first tried extracting the ErrorCode using a JS string function but this never worked (result always null).
Actually, the result string is an XML structure like the one from above:
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I then asked Gemini once again and it suggested a specific XML script:

function extractErrorCode(xmlString) {
// Create a DOMParser instance
const parser = new DOMParser();

// Parse the XML string into a DOM document
const xmlDoc = parser.parseFromString(xmlString, “text/xml”);

// Get all elements
const params = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName(“param”);

// Iterate over params to find the one with key “ErrorCode”
for (let i = 0; i < params.length; i++) {
const keyElement = params[i].getElementsByTagName(“string”)[0];
if (keyElement.textContent === “ErrorCode”) {
const valueElement = params[i].getElementsByTagName(“string”)[1];
return valueElement.textContent;
}
}

return null; // Handle case where ErrorCode not found
}

const xmlString = context.workflow[‘3bdd1ccc-f5c6-457a-8ac7-872566f61929’].result?.[‘data’]/* your XML string here */;
const errorCode = extractErrorCode(xmlString);
// console.log(errorCode); // Output: 200 >> valid
return(errorCode);

This works perfectly! I now added a workflow True/False split using the returned ErrorCode: 200 = valid (true), other codes: error message

5

Great that you found a solution!

You can also make a formula to extract your XML into a proper json object, so you keep your workflows clean.

Create new formula, with one variable (xml). You can call it extract_vatid_xml() or what you want.
Use this code:

const xmlString = xml;

function extractKeyValuePairs(xmlString) {
  const parser = new DOMParser();
  const xmlDoc = parser.parseFromString(xmlString, "text/xml");
  const params = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("param");
  const result = {};

  for (let param of params) {
    const values = param.getElementsByTagName("string");
    if (values.length >= 2) {
      const key = values[0].textContent;
      const value = values[1].textContent;
      result[key] = value;
    }
  }

  return result;
}

return extractKeyValuePairs(xmlString);

Now you have a clean object to work with

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6

Hi Thomas,
This alternative worked fine. Thank you!
Step by step, I’m approaching my goal.

1 Like