WebSphere Message Brokers
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Writer: Jane Brockbank

Reference topic

This build: July 31, 2007 21:20:24

SOAP applications

SOAP is an XML based language defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for sending data between applications. SOAP is transport and platform neutral.

SOAP message

A SOAP message comprises an envelope containing:
  • An optional header (containing one or more header blocks).
  • A mandatory body.
The content of the header and body is typically defined by WSDL.

SOAP style

SOAP defines two types of style:
RPC
The SOAP body corresponds to a method call.
document
The SOAP body is typically a coarser-grained XML document and is defined explicitly by XML schema.

SOAP encodings

SOAP defines two types of encoding:
SOAP encoding
With SOAP encoding the content is defined using an encoding scheme which implies a specific mapping to language-specific types.
literal
With literal encoding the SOAP content is defined explicitly by some schema (generally XML Schema).

SOAP style and encoding combinations

Three of the four possible SOAP style and encoding combinations are supported by the WSDL importer and the WSDL generator:
  • RPC and SOAP encoded (supported for the WSDL importer only).
  • RPC and literal.
  • Document and literal.

SOAP versions

Two versions of SOAP are available:
  • SOAP 1.1
  • SOAP 1.2
SOAP 1.1 has some interoperability issues, mainly concerned with the use of SOAP encoding, which are addressed by a separate standard: the WS-I Basic Profile.

Further information

For more information about WSDL 1.1 refer to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and in particular the SOAP 1.1 and SOAP 1.2 documents at:
For more information about the WS-I Basic Profile refer to the WS-I, and in particular the WS-I Basic Profile document:
Related concepts
Message flows overview
WSDL validation
SOAP 1.1 and 1.2
What is SOAP?
The structure of a SOAP message
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Copyright IBM Corporation 1999, 2007Copyright IBM Corporation 1999, 2007. All Rights Reserved.
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