First page Back Continue Last page Graphics
What’s in SOAP?
SOAP has 3 parts:
The envelope
- Defines an overall framework for expressing:
- What is in a message
- Who should deal with it
- Whether it is optional or mandatory.
The encoding rules
- Defines a serialization mechanism to exchange instances of application-defined datatypes.
The RPC representation
- Defines a convention that can be used to represent remote procedure calls and responses.
Notes:
From the SOAP specification:
SOAP is a lightweight protocol for the exchange of information in a decentralized, distributed environment. It is an XML-based protocol that consists of three parts: an envelope that defines a framework for describing what is in a message and how to process it, a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defined data types, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses. SOAP can potentially be used in combination with a variety of other protocols; however, the only bindings defined in this document describe how to use SOAP in combination with HTTP and the HTTP Extension Framework.