JAX-RPC handlers - An alternative to gateway filters

JAX-RPC handlers interact with messages as they pass between the service requester and the gateway, and between the gateway and the target service.

A Java API for XML-based remote procedure call (JAX-RPC) handler is a Java class that performs a similar range of tasks to a gateway filter - from logging messages, to transforming their contents, to terminating an incoming request. For more detailed information about JAX-RPC and JAX-RPC handlers, see the following IBM developerWorks articles:

• A developer introduction to JAX-RPC, Part 2: Mine the JAX-RPC specification to improve Web service interoperability

• Support for J2EE Web Services in WebSphere Studio Application Developer V5.1 -- Part 3: JAX-RPC Handlers

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All new gateway installations should use JAX-RPC handlers rather than gateway filters, for the following reasons:

• JAX-RPC is part of the proposed Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) 1.4, and JAX-RPC handlers are emerging as the standard approach in Java for intercepting and filtering service messages.

• JAX-RPC handlers are already being widely implemented - and any JAX-RPC handlers you write for use in other systems can also be deployed to the gateway.

• JAX-RPC handlers are already accepted as the standard approach in Java for managing message-level security as defined by the Web Services Security (WS-Security) specification.

Filters are applied at the level of the gateway service. JAX-RPC handlers are applied to:

• The gateway service and the channel (for messages passing between the service requester and the gateway).

• The target service and the target service port (for messages passing between the gateway and the target service).

JAX-RPC handlers are deployed to the Web services gateway as described in Deploying handlers to the Web services gateway and Listing and managing gateway-deployed handlers. After you deploy a handler to the gateway you can add it to the handler chain for the gateway service and the channel, or to the handler chain for the target service and the target service port, as described in Listing and managing gateway-deployed Web services.

If you deploy a gateway service to run in proxy mode, then also deploy (to the gateway service and the channel) a JAX-RPC handler that can set the target endpoint for the gateway service. For more information, see JAX-RPC handlers and proxy operation.

Use of JAX-RPC handlers is currently supported only by the SOAP over HTTP channel.

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JAX-RPC handlers and proxy operation

Working with JAX-RPC handlers
    

 

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