I have a certain issue in understaing the nature of WSDL files, if my understanding is correct we use a create a WSDL file to deploy our wmService over the net so that an external party can submit data to our service and receive its output in return.
I have some issues on which i need clarity,
Which application other than WM can deploy a WSDL file and then send data to our IS…? Please name a few examples.
2.Once this WSDL file is deployed at the third party place how does that person invoke the service on our IS, and how does he get back the reply generated from our service…?
WSDL or Web Services Description Language is a blue print for a which a service how to communicate to some application that has been exposed to be used as a web service. You can expose flow services, java services, and others as a web service as long as they follow certain web service guidelines by the W3C. [URL=“Web Services Description Language (WSDL) Version 2.0 Part 1: Core Language”]http://www.w3.org/TR/wsdl[/URL] (visit for more information on WSDL and XML)
There are different application that can take advantage of a WSDL file and XML format. The support on different platforms/application varies depending on the implementation of different web-services standards such as WS-1 etc. The protocol used to communicate XML using web services is SOAP. You must first learn/understand XML to truly understand what a web service is and inturn will also understand WSDL.
A web service is invoked just like you would invoke any service. ASP/JSP service using HTTP/HTTPs. But the message is a well crafted XML message that is called a SOAP request.
There are plenty of documentation avalible on the internet plus there is document called Building Web Services included with the IS Documentation. You can also get this document from webMethods Advantage website.
Have a look at Thomas Erl’s SOA Concepts book. He covers WSDL quite well to help you understand both the abstract and concrete portions. He also touches on modular WSDL design in which XML schemas containing definitions of messages for web service operations are imported into the WSDL.
You’ll find Erl’s writing much easier to understand than the specification itself.