XML Web Services
Architecture
Siddharth Ruchandani
CS 6362 – SW Architecture & Design
Summer 2005
07/11/05
Current Business Situation
Systems “built to task,
built to last” work well
independently
Accomplish what they
were designed for
But what if these
systems want to
connect together?
The Problem
Most systems aren’t
designed to work with
each other
Connecting the
Accounting with Sales
system is expensive,
time-consuming, and
unreliable
The Solution
A standard way for
systems to
communicate with
each other
The Solution
A standard way for
systems to
communicate with
each other
XML Web Services
No need to re-
design existing
components
The Solution
A standard way for
systems to
communicate with
each other
XML Web Services
No need to re-design
existing components
Not only connect
systems, connect
people
Web Services
Provide a way for
systems to
interoperate across
different platforms &
operating systems
Structured way to
format data, describe
service capability and
availability
Web Service Principles
Message Orientation – Web services communicate using messages
Protocol Composability – Web services avoid monolithic design by
the use of modular building blocks that can be re-used
Autonomous Services – Can be designed, implemented, managed,
versioned, and deployed independently
Managed transparency – can manage which functionalities we want
to make available to the end-service and which to hide
Protocol-based integration – can be implemented using simple
protocols
Web Services Architecture
HTTP – Hyper Text
Discovery (UDDI) Transfer Protocol
XML – Extensible Markup
Description (WSDL)
Language
Standard structure (SOAP) SOAP – Simple Object
Encoding (XML)
Access Protocol
WSDL – Web Service
Transport (HTTP) Description Language
UDDI – Universal
Web Service layers Description, Discovery &
Integration
XML – eXtensible Markup Language
Unit of Information
transfer
Simple, text-based
Message – an XML
document information
item as defined by the
XML Infoset
Infoset – Abstract data
model, foundation of XML
Specifications (XML
Schema, XML Query,
XSLT)
XML – eXtensible Markup Language
<m:GetContactInfo
xmlns:m="http://example.org/CompanyInfo">
<ContactName>Sidd R.</ContactName>
<CompanyName>SARK</CompanyName>
<StreetName>W. Las Colinas</StreetName>
</m:GetContactInfo>
XSD
XML Schema Definition
Schema - an abstract representation of an object's
characteristics and relationship to other objects
XML schema represents the interrelationship between the
attributes and elements of an XML object (for example, a
document or a portion of a document)
Provides a universal type system, allowing data types to be
defined and passed across platforms.
For an XML Web service, XSD defines the structure and data
types for the XML encapsulated within a SOAP message sent
to and from an XML Web service.
For example, within a schema for a document describing a
Web site, you would define a Web site element, a Web page
element, and other elements that describe possible content
divisions within any page on that site.
SOAP
SOAP(Simple Object Access
Protocol) is a lightweight protocol
intended for exchanging structured
information in a decentralized,
distributed environment.
SOAP uses XML technologies to
define an extensible messaging
framework, which provides a
message construct that can be
exchanged over a variety of
underlying protocols.
The framework has been designed
to be independent of any particular
programming model and other
implementation specific semantics.
SOAP 1.2 Specification definition
XML document containing 3
elements: <Envelope>, <Header>,
<Body>
SOAP
SOAP Over HTTP
SOAP Processing Model
Identify the header block intended for the current SOAP node
If header block cannot be processed, message is discarded and
fault message generated
Process message
If current node not the ultimate receiver, then message is relayed to
the next SOAP node
WSDL
Web Service Definition
Language
Describes
What a request message
must contain
What the response
message might look like
Where the service is
available
What protocol required to
talk to the service
WSDL
WSDL documents can
maintain information like
method signatures, data
returned, etc. about a
web service
Applications can maintain
a pointer to the required
web service’s WSDL docs
Applications can then call
the various methods of
the web service
WSDL (Example)
WSDL (Example)
http://www.xmethods.com/ve2/ViewListing.po;(QHyMHiRM)?key=uuid:D784C184-99B2-DA25-ED45-3665D11A12E5
UDDI
Universal Description
Discovery &
Integration
Analogous to a
phonebook
Specifies protocol for
querying a directory
of web services
UDDI
A UDDI director entry has
3 primary parts
Service provider – to
contact someone
responsible for the service
Web services offered –
organized by application
area, geography, etc.
Bindings to implementation
– associates web service
entry to the exact URI,
protocol to use for access
XML Web Service Lifetime
The client creates a new instance of an XML Web service proxy
class. This object resides on the same computer as the client.
The client invokes a method on the proxy class.
The infrastructure on the client computer serializes the arguments
of the XML Web service method into a SOAP message and sends
it over the network to the XML Web service.
XML Web Service Lifetime (contd.)
The infrastructure receives the SOAP message and deserializes the
XML. It creates an instance of the class implementing the XML Web
service and invokes the XML Web service method, passing in the
deserialized XML as arguments.
The XML Web service method executes its code, eventually setting
the return value and any out parameters.
The infrastructure on the Web server serializes the return value and
out parameters into a SOAP message and sends it over the network
back to the client.
The XML Web service infrastructure, on the client computer,
receives the SOAP message, deserializes the XML into the return
value and any out parameters, and passes them to the instance of
the proxy class.
The client receives the return value and any out parameters.
Other Features
Security - Organizations building
and managing secure XML Web
services need to ensure that only
authorized parties are allowed to
use the XML Web services and
that the SOAP messages sent and
received by the XML Web services
can only be modified or viewed by
appropriate parties.
WS-Security is a simple, stateless,
SOAP specification that describes
how digital credentials should be
placed within SOAP messages,
and how these credentials should
be associated with a message to
ensure message integrity and
confidentiality.
Other Features
Reliable Messaging
WS-ReliableMessaging
Specification
The specification defines three
different assurances that may
be used in combination:
At-Least-Once Delivery:
Each message is delivered
at least one time.
At-Most-Once Delivery:
Duplicate messages will
not be delivered.
In-Order Delivery:
Messages are delivered in
the same order they were
sent.
Case Studies
OSS (Operations Currency
Support System) GetRate() Exchange
Web
Localization Service
Manager SendRate()
Case Studies
Web Service
to authenticate
SCAUTHENTICATION
applications against
SERVICE Active Directory (AD)
SDMS SPARTA OTHER
Case Studies
Web Service
to locate
stores by
STORE LOCATOR Store number,
WEB SERVICE division,
market, or
geographical location
SDMS SPARTA OTHER
Conclusion
Web Services
Loosely coupled
Ubiquitous Communication
Universal Data Format
Discussed Important components of
Web Services Architecture
XML
XSD
SOAP
WSDL
UDDI
Secure, Reliable Messaging
Application Integration
Platform independence
Transport independence
References
http://msdn.microsoft.com/webservices
http://www.gotdotnet.com/team/XMLwebse
rvices/
http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com
