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 ( BAPI s, RFM s, 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)
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.
For information about creating and using Web services, see the following links: