WSDL Documents

## Web Services

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## WSDL Tutorial

WSDL Intro WSDL Documents WSDL PortType WSDL Binding WSDL and UDDI

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## RDF Tutorial

RDF Intro RDF Rules RDF Example RDF Elements RDF Containers RDF Collections RDF Schema RDF Dublin Core RDF OWL RDF Reference

# WSDL Documents

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A WSDL document is just a simple XML document.

It contains set of definitions to describe a web service.

## The WSDL Document Structure

A WSDL document describes a web service using these major elements:

Element | Description
--- | ---
<types> | A container for data type definitions used by the web service
<message> | A typed definition of the data being communicated
<portType> | A set of operations supported by one or more endpoints
<binding> | A protocol and data format specification for a particular port type

The main structure of a WSDL document looks like this:

<definitions>
<types>
data type definitions........
</types>
<message>
definition of the data being communicated....
</message>
<portType>
set of operations......
</portType>
<binding>
protocol and data format specification....
</binding>
</definitions>

A WSDL document can also contain other elements, like extension elements, and a service element that makes it possible to group together the definitions of several web services in one single WSDL document.

## WSDL Ports

The <portType> element is the most important WSDL element.

It describes a web service, the operations that can be performed, and the messages that are involved.

The <portType> element can be compared to a function library (or a module, or a class) in a traditional programming language.

## WSDL Messages

The <message> element defines the data elements of an operation.

Each message can consist of one or more parts. The parts can be compared to the parameters of a function call in a traditional programming language.

## WSDL Types

The <types> element defines the data types that are used by the web service.

For maximum platform neutrality, WSDL uses XML Schema syntax to define data types.

## WSDL Bindings

The <binding> element defines the data format and protocol for each port type.

## WSDL Example

This is a simplified fraction of a WSDL document:

<message name="getTermRequest">
<part name="term" type="xs:string"/>
</message>
<message name="getTermResponse">
<part name="value" type="xs:string"/>
</message>
<portType name="glossaryTerms">
<operation name="getTerm">
<input message="getTermRequest"/>
<output message="getTermResponse"/>
</operation>
</portType>

In this example the <portType> element defines "glossaryTerms" as the name of a port, and "getTerm" as the name of an operation.

The "getTerm" operation has an input message called "getTermRequest" and an output message called "getTermResponse".

The <message> elements define the parts of each message and the associated data types.

Compared to traditional programming, glossaryTerms is a function library, "getTerm" is a function with "getTermRequest" as the input parameter, and getTermResponse as the return parameter.

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