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Background documentationWeb Service Technologies in the Application Server Locate this document in the navigation structure

 

The following section provides a short definition of the central Web Service technologies SOAP and WSDL. Using these technologies, the Application Server can:

  • Provide existing functions (BAPIs, RFMs, IDocs, EJBs) as Web services

  • Process Web services from any Web service provider.

SOAP

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is an XML-based protocol for information exchange in a decentralized, distributed environment. The following elements are defined by a SOAP specification:

  • A processing model for messages

  • An envelope for the exchange of XML documents

  • Error handling

  • The use of a transport protocol (for example, HTTP)

  • An encryption schema for data types

WSDL

WSDL (Web Services Description Language) is an XML format for the description of Web services. The following elements are defined by WSDL:

  • The Web service interface (IDL)

  • One or more transport protocols that are used as access to the Web service (for example, SOAP)

  • The Service Endpoints (URL)

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

Fig.: Web Service Processing in the Application Server

Explanatory note:

  • UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration) is a protocol that simplifies the finding of particular services and the corresponding companies over the Internet.

Example

More Information

For more information on these technologies, see:

  • SOAP

  • WSDL: At www.w3.org/TR/wsdl

For information about creating and using Web services, see the following links: