What is meant by Webservice

[Former Member]

Hi my dear friends,

Can any once explain more specificly the following topics.

1)what is meant by webservice? one real time example?

2)what is meant by Web as java hw it could be related to xi and what is the real use of web as java.

3)what is meant by SOAP?I need more clear answer and what is the use of SOAP and need one real time example to understand better.

Note:Please give more clear answers.

Thanks in Advance...I would be appreciate by giving good points based on my understand.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Chanrasekhar,

Here are your answers-->

I think you would be familiar to XML. XML is not any programming language. It is a commom format which is understood by most of the applications or you can say programming languages like( java, .net etc.). So XML became a common way for communicating between heterogeneous plateforms.

SOAP-- Now there should be some common rules or common format so that data sent by one application should be understood by other application. because XML document contains so many data. So where is actual needed data located in XML doc?

So for this purpose SOAP existsSimple Object access Protocol.)

Its format is like this--

SOAP Envelope-- this is the root element which designates that this message or XML doc is a SOAP message.

SOAP Header-- it generally contains all the routing informattion, logging or usernames, passwords etc..

SOAP BODY-- it contains the actual data which is needed by the application.

Now comes WEB Service.

I'll explain you with one example. You want to host a service that tells the rate of any share one wants.

You don't care whether this application should be accessed by .net or visual basic or java application. or to explain in an easy way, we can say that you are not providing any front-end.

Web service is again based on XML. You write all the business logic at your end.

eg. you create a method or funcrtion called <b>getCurrent Share Rate(String shareName)</b>. Now you expose this method as web service. exposing a method to web service means you are just creating again a XML file( which we called as WSDL) and a URL is also there describing the address to access your web service.

Now any application can access it using that WSDL file.

Few IMP things-->

1. there are many tools available in the market which automatically converts your code written in any language(like .NET or JAVA etc) to a web service. eg for java there is apache axis toolkit and also SWSDP is available from SUN itself to create and access a web service.

2. A web service always needs a web server to be hosted on.( like apache Tomcat IIS ,JBoss etc)

3. web service communication is always through SOAP messages which i have described above.

XI use web service to integrate third party applications/legacy systems which can understand XML.

I've explained in a very simple manner.

Hope this will help.

Regards,

Piyush

[agasthuri_doss]

Hi,

Webservice :

The WebService behavior enables client-side script to invoke remote methods exposed by Web Services, or other Web servers, that support the SOAP and Web Services Description Language (WSDL) 1.1. This behavior provides developers the opportunity to use and leverage SOAP, without requiring expert knowledge of its implementation. The WebService behavior supports the use of a wide variety of data types, including intrinsic SOAP data types, arrays, objects, and XML data.

SOAP :

SOAP is a standard that uses XML data to communicate between processes and devices. Because SOAP supports HTTP, it is becoming a popular mechanism for binding Internet-based cross-platform applications together. The WebService behavior enables developers to take advantage of the versatility of XML and SOAP without needing to develop SOAP.

Regards

Agasthuri Doss

[moorthy]

Hi,

This will help u-

about SOAP-/people/padmankumar.sahoo/blog/2005/02/15/an-overview-of-soap

Regards,

Moorthy

null

[suresh_krishnamoorthy]

Hi Chandrasekhar,

>> what is a Web Service

A Web service is any piece of software that makes itself available over the Internet and uses a standardized XML messaging system. There should be some simple mechanism for interested parties to locate the service and locate its public interface. The most prominent directory of Web services is currently available via UDDI, or Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration.

Refer Chapter 8 of this doc http://java.sun.com/j2ee/1.4/docs/tutorial/doc/

Web as java?

SAP Web Application Server is the result of continuing development of the SAP Basis system.

In addition to the components of the conventional SAP System, it provides the option of implementing both server-side as well as client-side applications.

SAP Web Application Server supports the HTTP, HTTPS, and SMTP protocols

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/84/54953fc405330ee10000000a114084/frameset.htm

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_webas620/helpdata/en/7c/f7bbc73a0d11d5992200508b6b8b11/frameset.htm

You can also Search in the net

Regards, Suresh KB

[Former Member]

My advice would be too find a good book about web services and spend the time reading that and not think or worry about XI or Web AS until you are confident in those areas. Try Google or Wikipedia for basic info on Web Services and SOAP.

Anyway, here are some very basic answers:

Web services are pieces of software of software functionality that are available to be consumed (used) over the internet.

SOAP is the XML format for messaging between web services.

Web AS Java is / was the J2EE server which XI requires to work and is a component of Netweaver.