To a great extent, communication between B2B and e-Commerce applications is based on manually declared interfaces, message formats, and arrangements between business partners. This process can be simplified using Web services. Web services are Web-based interfaces that can be integrated into a company's business scenarios based on open and commonly accepted standards. Web services enable you to combine functions implemented in different software components into a single process.
Web services are self-contained, modularized, executable entities which are accessible over open protocols. Web services:
Use open protocols, such as HTTP, SMTP, and so on, for communication
Use XML Schema for the description of their messages
Process XML messages framed by using SOAP
Provide endpoints using WSDL
Can be discovered using UDDI.
In this way, Web services can be published, discovered, and accessed across a network. For a caller or sender, a Web service is a black box that may require input and delivers a result.
The SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java allows companies to extend their solutions by exposing and integrating Web services. It acts both as a server and as a client for Web services.
The SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio supports the development of Java EE 5 Web services by providing various wizards and functions. You can open the Web services wizards by choosing
and select the one that suits your needs.In addition, more functions are available from the context menu when you select a Java class, an EJB 3.0 session bean, or a WSDL file.