Goals of WSIF

SOAP bindings for Web services are part of the WSDL specification, therefore when most developers think of using a Web service, they immediately think of assembling a SOAP message and sending it across the network to the service endpoint, using a SOAP client API. For example: using Apache SOAP the client creates and populates a Call object that encapsulates the service endpoint, the identification of the SOAP operation to invoke, the parameters to send, and so on. While this process works for SOAP, it is limited in its use as a general model for invoking Web services for the following reasons:

• Web services are more than just SOAP services.

• Tying client code to a particular protocol implementation is restricting.

• Incorporating new bindings into client code is hard.

• Multiple bindings can be used in flexible ways.

• A freer Web services environment enables intermediaries.

The goals of the Web Services Invocation Framework (WSIF) are therefore:

• To give a binding-independent mechanism for Web service invocation.

• To free client code from the complexities of any particular protocol used to access a Web service.

• To enable dynamic selection between multiple bindings to a Web service.

• To help the development of Web service intermediaries.

Related concepts
An overview of WSIF

Related tasks
WSIF system management and administration