Service Endpoint Interface 

Use

When creating an inside-out Web service, you can use a service endpoint interface (SEI) to expose some or all methods of the implementation bean as Web service methods. An SEI is a Java interface which declares the methods of the implementation bean a consumer application can invoke on the Web service. It represents the Web service contract definition and enables you to separate that contract definition from the Web service implementation.

The use of an SEI to create a Web service allows you to develop the implementation class and the Web service consumer application in parallel and independently in time based on the SEI.

There are several options for creating an inside-out Web service:

●      Using an existing SEI

You create the Web service against a Java interface (the SEI) available in advance. The SEI should contain the methods of the implementation class which you want to expose as a Web service. The signatures of the interface methods must be the same as those of the implementation class. If the implementation class extends a superclass, you can also expose the methods of the superclass by declaring them in the interface.

●      Creating an SEI based on the implementation class

Based on the methods of the implementation class you choose to expose as a Web service, the Developer Studio creates a Java interface (the SEI) containing those methods. If the implementation class extends a superclass, you can also expose methods of the superclass.

●      Without using an SEI

A separate Java interface is not used for the creation of the Web service. The contract definition is not decoupled from the Web service implementation bean.

More information

Creating an Inside-Out Web Service from an Enterprise Java Bean

Creating an Inside-Out Web Service from a Servlet Endpoint