Thanks Colin and Simon for your responses! After further reading, I'm wondering if there is a way to do this using HTTP/SSL. (I also need to tackle our security problem). Can I setup a HTTPS connection between the two programs and ensure that the connection is persistent?
Program A connects to program B with a persistent HTTPS connection. SOAP-RPC is used to exchange information while the connection is active. If B terminates, A could know by periodically checking the connection status? I'm pretty new to all this so it may/may not be feasible. I would like to use SSL though. I'm currently using Java/Tomcat/Axis, but I would like to ensure that VB, C++, C#, Perl, PHP programs would be able to "play" nicely with my programs. Thanks. Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: Colin Saxton To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 3:49 AM Subject: RE: porting from socket to SOAP With comments like this "This means that any data sent from the server must first come from a client request." (SEE BELOW) you would think that it was Monday morning!! (doh...) my apologies but you get what I mean...(I hope!!) -----Original Message----- From: Colin Saxton [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 28 February 2002 09:39 To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: RE: porting from socket to SOAP Most implementations of SOAP use HTTP which means the connection is closed after each client request (or possibly closed). This means that any data sent from the server must first come from a client request. It also depends on the nodes that are communicating. To implement effecient communication along the lines of what you want would mean having 2 J2EE communicating using message driven beans, a bit like B2B. 1. [A] sends a SOAP request to [B] which is then forwarded to a Message Driven Bean. 2. The bean then periodically sends SOAP updates to [A], you can catch this using any method you like on node [A]. The hard part is once you have received the message on server [A] then you would need to forward this message to the client application a. One way of doing that would be to have the client application become a SocketServer. you could then connect to this from within the J2EE server on node [A] using an EJB as a socketClient (which is permitted in the specifications) and forward the data down the socket... You may ask what you gain from the above setup since you are aready using SOAP?? The biggest advantage would be that you can communicate across the internet with the above example through any fire wall. Another example is that you never have to have a continuous connection. You could make your client application server socket a pooled resource making the code more scalable... Although it does seem overkill and probably harder to setup at first there would be advantages. The reason you have not found anyone doing this yet is because it is only really just being developed to its potential by individual companies...you would be a first! -----Original Message----- From: Mike Brown [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 28 February 2002 06:36 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: porting from socket to SOAP Hi, I am currently researching the use of XML based protocols for messaging in an application we currently have that uses TCP/IP sockets. In the application, two programs A and B communicate using sockets. A connects to B and asks B to send asyncronous data updates over the socket. If B terminates, A is notified (uses a select() behavior) and marks the data from B as stale (so it won't be displayed to a user, etc...). I need to keep the functionality of the existing application, but would like to use SOAP if possible as it seems to be the upcoming standard. Any ideas? I know I'm not the first to try to solve this problem, but I can't seem to find the solution posted anywhere. I'm not really sure that sessions or cookies can solve my problem. Thanks! Mike ************************************************************************ This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Any views or opinions are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Exel Computer Systems plc. If you have received this email in error please notify Customer Services on 0115 946 0101. ************************************************************************
