To create and configure a service consumer, you must first generate a consumer proxy. The consumer proxy encapsulates communication and takes over the control of technical processes. The consumer proxy is used to create a connection to the server of the Web service required. While the developer programs the business application, the technical part - for example, the automatic packing of calls into a SOAP message or the evaluation of incoming messages - is completed using the proxy.

It is not important for a service consumer which technology is used on the side of the service provider. It is possible to use Web Services from a non-SAP system, irrespective of the implementation behind it.

After proxy generation, you can call the service from a program.

Using the outside-in approach, you develop the Web service in the Enterprise Services Repository. By choosing an interface pattern when modeling a service interface, you determine which programming model and which Web service processing type is to be used.

We distinguish between four interface patterns. The following chapters can be divided in this way: