Internet ProgrammingCreating XML Web Services

XML Web Services

Internet Programming-Creating
XML Web Services
XML Web services allow integration of applications
developed in different languages and running on
different platforms. An application that implements
XML Web service uses an interface that ensures the
data provided by XML Web service is in XML format.
Resides on the Web server. Whenever a client needs
information from the server that hosts the Web service,
the clients sends a request to the server. This client
request format is complaint with the XML Web service.
The XML Web service processes the request and sends
a response back to the client.
XML web services use standards protocols such as
Simple Object Access Protocol(SOAP), Universal
Description Discovery and Integration(UDDI), Web
Service Definition Language(WSDL), for communication
between the client and Web server.

Internet Programming-Creating
XML Web Services

Features of XML Web services are:

Interoperability: Enables applications developed using different
languages and running on heterogeneous platforms to communicate
with each other. For example, if you develop the hotel accommodation
Web service on the Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition(J2EE) platform
and the flight reservation Web service on the .Net platform, both Web
services can communicate with each other.
Dynamic integration: Enables applications to dynamically locate and
integrate with one another to provide enterprise solutions. For
example, you can dynamically integrate the flight ticket, hotel
accommodation, and travel agency Web service application with each
other to provide an enterprise level solution
Industry standards: Enable applications to communicate with each
other using widely accepted industry standards, such as XML, Simple
Object Access Protocol(SOAP), Universal Description Discovery and
Integration(UDDI), Web Service Definition Language(WSDL),
Security: Enables applications to communicate with each other in a
secure environment using XML signature and XML encryption. XML
encryption is the process to encode data in such a way that
unauthenticated users cannot understand it. XML signature offers
integrity and message authentication services for the data, over the
network

Internet Programming-Creating
XML Web Services

Components of XML Web Services

XML Web services directories: Web service providers publish the information
about their Web services at centralized locations. The Universal Description
Discovery and Integration(UDDI) provides guidelines to publish information such
as:

Business information: Such as business name, description, contacts, identifiers

Service information: Set of related XML Web services of a business process. Eg. Travel agency
web service is related to the hotel and flight accommodation web service for retrieving
specific information
Binding information: Technical information required to invoke a Web service, such as URLs and
argument types.
Service specifications: The metadata information necessary for locating an XML Web service.

XML Web service discovery: allows the client to locate the documents that
describe a particular XML Web service using WSDL.
XML Web services description: helps describe XML Web services, formats of
messages, and services supported by an XML web services
XML Web services wire formats: use the wire format to provide
communication over disparate systems. Using XML web service wire formats,
such as HTTP-GET, HTTP-POST, and SOAP, you can ensure interoperability on
networks and enable universal communication. HTTP-POST enables you to send
parameters to an XML web service. HTTP-GET protocol enable you to send URLencoded parameters as name-value pairs to an XML web services. SOAP
protocol allow you to exchange the structured information among applications on
the Web.

Internet Programming-Creating
XML Web Services
Directory

XML Web
Service
Client

UDDI

Discovery
Description

XML Web
Service

Wire
Format

Components of an XML Web Service infrastructure

The above figure, an XML Web service, an XML Web service client searches
for an XML Web service in UDDI with the help of directory service. In case it
is found, link to the URL if the discovery document is established. After a
URL is retrieved, the client requests for the discovery document with the
help of discovery service. The Web server returns the requested discovery
document to the client. After a discovery document is retrieved, the client
requests for the description of a particular Web service from the server with
the help of the description service. The Web server then requests for the
XML web service using wire formats. The service response is returned back
to the client

Internet Programming-Creating
XML Web Services
Implementing Web Service Standards
Are a set of specifications formulated and accepted by the
leading enterprises that provide and avail XML web services.

You needs to have:

A common data representation format to ensure the
interoperability of the data exchanged by the client application
and the Web service
A standard method for sending message from the client
application to the Web service and vice versa
A standard format for describing the Web service
A mechanism to allow client applications to discover the Web
services and their locations

XML Web services standards make it possible for clients to

access XML Web services regardless of their type and
platforms. To cater to these requirements, various
standards, such as XML SOAP, and WSDL, are used to
develop and access Web services

Internet Programming-Creating
XML Web Services
Role of SOAP
is an XML-based standard protocol of XML Web
service. It is an XML standard used to enable
communication between XML Web services and its
clients in a distributed environment. SOAP specifies
that one application can request for the service of
another application that resides at a remote system.
Uses XML-based data to encode messages and
transfers then over the Internet using HTTP or SMTP.
It servers as a flexible communication layer between
XML Web services. The features of SOAP are:

It
It
It
It

is programming language independent

is platform independent
does not require any technology at its endpoints
is an object-oriented protocols

Internet Programming-Creating
XML Web Services
Role of WSDL
Is a standard XML based language that
defines how XML Web services are
described when they are published in a
registry. XML Web services information is
published in registries as WSDL document
Is a XML file that enclosed the interface
schema for the XML Web service
Provides information about accessing
published XML Web services to clients

Internet Programming-Creating
XML Web Services
Role of UDDI

is a standard for publishing XML Web service.

The registries that implement UDDI standards to provide registry services as known as UDDI
registries. It manages information about service providers, service implementations, and
service metadata.

The service providers use these UDDI registries to publish their XML web services.
Types of discoveries
Static discovery: discovery document can be located on a Web Server. You can
access the files through the .asmx page. The document contains the necessary
information for describing the services that are located on the server
Dynamic discovery: application does not have information about the location of the
XML Web service but knows about the Web service provider.

Service
Provider

Service
Client

Register its service

with the registry

UDDI
Registry

Finds services
with the
Registry

Role of UDDI in XML Web Service