Let us know the gist of the responses
1.1. SOAP Servers
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is a lightweight protocol for exchange
of information in a decentralized, distributed environment. It is an XML
based protocol that consists of three parts: an envelope that defines a
framework for describing what is in a message and how to process it, a set
of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defined data
types, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls and
responses. SOAP can potentially be used in combination with a variety of
protocols. The specification describes the following areas:
1. Message structure - SOAP defines three main elements:
Envelope, Header and Body. Applications use this structure to create a
message for transport.
2. Protocol bindings - A SOAP document can be transported over
various protocols, HTTP, FTP, SMTP, etc. The specification defines how SOAP
messages are bound to protocols.
3. Data encoding - There are many ways to represent data. A
Boolean value can be expressed as 'true,' 'yes,' or '1.' SOAP defines how
primitive data types and how complex or user-defined data types (UDT) are
serialized for data exchange.
4. Errors handling - Applications can represent errors using
SOAP FAULT elements.
A sample SOAP document is shown below:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<SOAP-ENV:Envelope
xmlns:SOAP-ENV="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/";>
<SOAP-ENV:Header>
<transid>544-33432-33</transid>
</SOAP-ENV:Header>
<SOAP-ENV:Body>
<getUser xmlns="uri:com-charlesschwab-poc">
<ssn>999-99-9999</ssn>
<pin>9999</pin>
</getUser>
</SOAP-ENV:Body>
</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>
1.1.1. SOAP Implementations
1.1.1.1. Apache SOAP 2.2
Many organizations have implemented the SOAP specification. The Apache
group, with work donated by IBM, has released Apache SOAP, an open-source
implementation of the SOAP v1.1 and SOAP Messages with Attachments
specifications in Java. Apache SOAP can be used as a client library to
invoke SOAP services available elsewhere or as a server-side tool to
implement SOAP accessible services. As a client library it provides an API
for invoking SOAP RPC services as well as an API for sending and receiving
SOAP messages. As a mechanism to write new RPC accessible services or
message accessible services, it expects to be hosted by a servlet container
(such as Apache Tomcat, for example). While the code base can be extended to
support non-HTTP transports, the current implementation only has limited
support for non-HTTP transports (specifically, only for SMTP).
Limitations
* No support for WSDL
* Poor support for layered architectures and/or intermediaries
* Only supports HTTP
* The default RPC provider in Apache SOAP does not provide
access to any headers in the SOAP envelope
* Does not implement the 'mustUnderstand' attribute
* The default RPC service provider does not support multiple
return parameters
* Apache SOAP does not (by default) function without every
typed value being explicitly typed in the envelope using the xsi:type
attribute
* Does not use the SOAPAction HTTP header
* Does not fully implement all three versions of XML Schema
1.1.1.2. Apache Axis (Beta 3)
Axis is essentially Apache SOAP 3.0. It is a rewrite, designed around a
streaming model (using SAX internally rather than DOM). The intention is to
create a more modular, more flexible, and higher-performing SOAP
implementation (relative to Apache SOAP 2.0). The name "Axis" was chosen
because, when the project started, the XML Protocol working group had not
chosen a name for its protocol. The intent was for Axis to support SOAP 1+,
XML-RPC, and XMLP (whatever it wound up being called), calling it "Apache
SOAP 3.0" would have missed the mark. Recently, the XML Protocol working
group decided to retain the SOAP name.
Limitations
* Axis is in Beta and will be tested on the final version is
released; In it's current state, we cannot recommend development with Axis
as there are too many interoperability issues
1.1.1.3. Microsoft SOAP
Microsoft has included the SOAP toolkit in the Microsoft .NET platform. The
implementation automatically generates WSDL documents for Web Services
exposed on the .NET platform. Unlike the implementations of Apache,
Microsoft supports a variety of language bindings including C, C#, Visual
Basic.NET, and J#.
Limitations
* Can only generate WSDL using version 2001 of XML Schema
* SOAP Toolkit 2.0 does not support attachments
* .NET requires the SOAPAction header be used to exactly
identify the operation on which service is being invoked
* Does not properly understand nested namespaces
* Requires all parameters to be named and typed explicitly
1.1.2. References
* http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP/
* http://xml.apache.org/soap/
* http://xml.apache.org/axis/
* http://msdn.microsoft.com/soap/
Thanks,
Bryan
Bryan McLane
Consultant\RPS SITE
Cyrstar Consulting Inc.\Charles Schwab
SF45FRMT-27-215
(415) 667-4654
Any comments or statements made are not those of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.,
its subsidiaries, or affiliates
> WARNING : All e-mail sent to or from this address will be received or
> otherwise recorded by the Charles Schwab corporate e-mail system and is
> subject to archival, monitoring or review by, and/or disclosure to,
> someone other than the recipient.
>
>
>
> ----------
> From: Mark Hansen[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Reply To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Friday, February 08, 2002 10:55 AM
> To: AXIS mail list
> Subject: SOAP 2.2 vs. AXIS
>
> Hello AXIS community -
>
> I'm writing a book on how to use SOAP, Web Services,
> and Java to implement Enterprise Application
> Integration (EAI).
>
> I've been writing all code examples in the book using
> the Apache SOAP 2.2 implementation. However, now I
> see SOAP books coming out that use AXIS rather than
> the older SOAP 2.2 code.
>
> Question: Should I use SOAP 2.2 or AXIS for the code
> examples in my book??
>
> Anyone and everyone with an opinion is invited to
> respond to this message. It is really important to me
> to get a sense of what the SOAP/Java community is
> doing.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mark Hansen
> bus tel: 888-360-7285
> bus fax: 914-723-8671
> email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
