WSDL = SOAP?

[Jon Davis]

When people discuss XML Web Services in the context of .NET, and they talk
about their WSDL file and the like, does this infer SOAP? Or are there other
XML-based web protocols besides SOAP that depend on WSDL files?

WSDL aside, on the .NET platform, when people discuss XML Web Services, is
SOAP typically inferred?

Just asking about everyday industry conversation here. I seem to be on
another page with some people, as I assume SOAP (and not REST or XML-RPC or
anything else) when people put .NET and XML web services in the same
sentence and don't mention their protocol.

Jon

[John Saunders]

"Jon Davis" <jo*@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.netwrote in message
news:O2**************@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

When people discuss XML Web Services in the context of .NET, and they talk
about their WSDL file and the like, does this infer SOAP? Or are there
other XML-based web protocols besides SOAP that depend on WSDL files?

WSDL aside, on the .NET platform, when people discuss XML Web Services, is
SOAP typically inferred?

Just asking about everyday industry conversation here. I seem to be on
another page with some people, as I assume SOAP (and not REST or XML-RPC
or anything else) when people put .NET and XML web services in the same
sentence and don't mention their protocol.

Most XML web services use SOAP, but this is not required. The WSDL file can
specify more than one transport, more than one encoding, etc. One could use
encrypted and compressed binary over SMTP if needed, and you'd still specify
it with a WSDL document.

I don't know of any reason to use XML-RPC in new development. It was a
starting point for SOAP, but SOAP has left it far behind.

John

[Jon Davis]

Most XML web services use SOAP, but this is not required. The WSDL file

can specify more than one transport, more than one encoding, etc. One
could use encrypted and compressed binary over SMTP if needed, and you'd
still specify it with a WSDL document.

SMTP? But then what is the 'W' in WSDL?

I'm familiar with WSDL enough to have my own opinion but would you say that
WSDL is, in function / purpose, akin to a DTD / schema but specifically for
transport / deserialization?

Jon
"John Saunders" <john.saunders at trizetto.comwrote in message
news:u6**************@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

"Jon Davis" <jo*@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.netwrote in message
news:O2**************@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>When people discuss XML Web Services in the context of .NET, and they
talk about their WSDL file and the like, does this infer SOAP? Or are
there other XML-based web protocols besides SOAP that depend on WSDL
files?

WSDL aside, on the .NET platform, when people discuss XML Web Services,
is SOAP typically inferred?

Just asking about everyday industry conversation here. I seem to be on
another page with some people, as I assume SOAP (and not REST or XML-RPC
or anything else) when people put .NET and XML web services in the same
sentence and don't mention their protocol.

Most XML web services use SOAP, but this is not required. The WSDL file
can specify more than one transport, more than one encoding, etc. One
could use encrypted and compressed binary over SMTP if needed, and you'd
still specify it with a WSDL document.

I don't know of any reason to use XML-RPC in new development. It was a
starting point for SOAP, but SOAP has left it far behind.

John

[Gaurav Vaish \(www.EduJiniOnline.com\)]

SMTP? But then what is the 'W' in WSDL?

Still Web.
Well... 'W' cannot be read without 'S'.
So, 'WS'-'D'-'L'... A description language describing a WebService.

If one looks at the bindings section of WSDL, it would be clear that:

1. WSDL can have a SOAP binding.
Other bindings are also possible
2. The WebService location can be an HTTP URL
For SMTP, the location may be an email address.

I'm familiar with WSDL enough to have my own opinion but would you say
that WSDL is, in function / purpose, akin to a DTD / schema but
specifically for transport / deserialization?

Kind of... yes.
Specifying what is the content to be sent and received on the wire and
to/from what location.
--
Happy Hacking,
Gaurav Vaish | http://www.mastergaurav.com
http://articles.edujinionline.com/webservices
-------------------

[John Saunders]

"Jon Davis" <jo*@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.netwrote in message
news:%2****************@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>Most XML web services use SOAP, but this is not required. The WSDL file
can specify more than one transport, more than one encoding, etc. One
could use encrypted and compressed binary over SMTP if needed, and you'd
still specify it with a WSDL document.

SMTP? But then what is the 'W' in WSDL?

W == "Web", so what? Were you serious?

I'm familiar with WSDL enough to have my own opinion but would you say
that WSDL is, in function / purpose, akin to a DTD / schema but
specifically for transport / deserialization?

No. It describes one or more web services; it describes the messages they
use to communicate, including the schema(s) which describe the messages; it
describes the operations of the web service, and groups of those operations;
and it describes the bindings between the groups of operations and a
particular transport.

This is not quite a schema for web services, in my opinion. It's more
dynamic than a schema or DTD.

John