Passing SOAP messages with attachments using WSIF

The W3C SOAP Messages with Attachments document describes a standard way to associate a SOAP message with one or more attachments in their native format (for example GIF or JPEG) by using a multipart MIME structure for transport. It defines specific use of the "Multipart/Related" MIME media type, and rules for the use of URI references to entities bundled within the MIME package. It thereby outlines a technique for carrying a SOAP 1.1 message within a MIME multipart/related message in such a way that the SOAP processing rules for a standard SOAP message are not changed.

The Web Services Invocation Framework (WSIF) supports passing attachments in a MIME message using the SOAP provider. The attachment is a javax.activation.DataHandler object. The mime:multipartRelated, mime:part and mime:content tags are used to describe the attachment in the WSDL.

For more information, see the following topics...

The following scenarios are not supported...

The MIME headers from the incoming message are not preserved for referenced attachments. The outgoing message contains new MIME headers for Content-Type, Content-Id and Content-Transfer-Encoding that are created by WSIF.

 

See Also

Using complex types
Using WSIF to invoke Web services
Using the WSIF providers
Developing a WSIF service
Using the JNDI
Interacting with the J2EE container in WAS
Running WSIF as a client