Glossary

 

Assembling a Web service

Packaging all the components of the Web service into an Enterprise Application archive file (*.ear). You use Java Ant tasks to assemble a WebLogic Web Service.

Deploying a Web service

Making the Web service available to remote clients. This is analogous, although not exactly the same, as deploying an EJB. You deploy a Web service after you have deployed the EJBs that make up the Web service. You use the Administration Console to deploy a WebLogic Web Service.

Implementing a Web service

Writing the Java code for the stateless session EJB (for RPC-style Web services) or a message-driven bean (for message-style Web services) that is defined to be the entry point to the Web service. The stateless session EJB or message-driven bean may contain all the Web service functionality, or it may call other EJBs to parcel out the work.

Invoking a Web service

The actions that a client application performs to use the Web service. The client first assembles a SOAP message that describes the Web service it wants to invoke and includes all the necessary data, either in the SOAP body or in an attachment. The client then sends the SOAP message over HTTP/HTTPS to the WebLogic Server, which executes the Web service and may or may not send a SOAP message back to the client over HTTP/HTTPS.

Java Ant

The Java utility that you use to assemble WebLogic Web Services into Enterprise Application archives.

Message-style Web services

A type of Web service that uses a JMS destination as its entry point. Message-style Web services are loosely coupled document-driven services; this means that clients typically use this type of Web service by sending entire documents that will be processed by the Web service rather than sending parameters and receiving return values.

Publishing a Web service

Registering the Web service in a well-known location so it can be found by anyone who wants to use it. This can be done by registering the Web service in a UDDI registry, emailing the URL that invokes the Web service to whoever wants it, and so on.

RPC-style Web service

A type of Web service that uses a stateless session EJB as its entry point. RPC-style Web services are tightly coupled interface-driven services; this means that clients typically use the Web service by sending it parameters and receiving return values rather than sending an entire document to be processed by the Web service.

SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol. A lightweight XML-based protocol for exchanging information in a decentralized, distributed environment.

SOAP with attachments

A specification that describes a standard way to associate a SOAP message with one or more attachments in their native format in a multipart MIME structure for transport.

Web service

A shared application accessed by heterogeneous users over the Web that encapsulate a specific functionality.

Web Services Home Page

A Web page that lists the Web services defined for a particular context along with the WSDL files and Java client JAR file associated with each Web service.

WSDL

Web Services Description Language. An XML-based language used to describe Web services.