Operating Systems: i5/OS
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Frequently asked questions about Web services

 

This topic presents frequently asked questions about the development and implementation of Web services.

 

What is the relationship of the WebSphere product to Apache open source?

The WebSphere product has always extensively supported open source. From a Web services perspective, the WebSphere product contributes a large percentage of the JAX-RPC specification to the open source Apache Axis community. WebSphere Community Edition uses the Apache Axis runtime for its support for JAX-RPC 1.1. With the movement of Web services to a more messaging-centric asynchronous model, the Apache Axis community has created a new version of a Web services runtime that is based on the StAX architecture entitled Axis2.

Axis2 introduces its own proprietary programming and deployment model that is agnostic of any Java-based JCP standards. It did this primarily so that it could support multiple Java-based programming models, whether it JAX-WS, SCA (Apache Tuscany) and Groovy. While the feature pack introduces a standards-based JAX-WS programming model, it actually uses a version of Axis2 as part of its implementation. The feature pack users might see messages during tracing or within call stacks that reflect its Axis2 origins. The WebSphere product is supporting only the JAX-WS programming model and the deployment model that is documented in the information center. Any usage of native Axis2 APIs is not supported by the WebSphere product.

For an overview of the new specifications and features that Apache Axis2 supports in the Feature Pack for Web Services, see welc_newinreleasewsfp.html.

 

What IBM development tools work with Web Services?

The Application Server Toolkit (AST) and Rational Application Developer assembly tools provide a graphical interface for developing code artifacts, assembling the code artifacts into various archives or modules, and configuring related J2EE V1.2, 1.3 or 1.4 compliant deployment descriptors.

 

Is Web Services for J2EE technology part of the J2EE specification?

WebSphere Application Server V6.0.x and later are based on J2EE 1.4. For WebSphere Application Server V5.0.2 and V5.1.x, the Web Services for J2EE V1.0 specification is an addition to J2EE 1.3. The J2EE specification 1.4 requires support for Web Services for J2EE V1.1. Minor differences exist between the J2EE 1.3 Version (JSR-109 V1.0) and the J2EE 1.4 V(JSR-109 V1.1).

 

What is the relationship between the Web Services for J2EE specification and the Web Service Invocation Framework (WSIF)?

Web Services for J2EE and WSIF represent two different programming models for accessing Web services. The Web Services for J2EE model is a standard and Java-centric model. This model is also more statically bound to Web Services Description Language (WSDL) documents because of the use of generated stubs. WSIF directly models WSDL. WSIF is more suitable when dynamically interpreting WSDL. WebSphere Application Server V6.0.x leverages both technologies to achieve dynamic, high performing standards-based Web services implementations.

 

What is the relationship between Apache SOAP 2.3 and the Web Services for J2EE specification?

The development and implementation of a Web service is based on the Web Services for J2EE specification in Version 6.0.x and later. You are encouraged to migrate from Apache SOAP because this approach is not recommended for future releases. For information about migrating your Apache SOAP Web services, see Migrating Apache SOAP Web services to Web Services for J2EE standards.

 

What standards does the Web services runtime support?

You can review the standards and specifications that are supported by WebSphere Application Server for the Web services runtime in Specifications and API documentation.

 

What standards does the Web services runtime support

The following standards are supported by the Web services runtime component of WebSphere Application Server:

 

Does the Web Services for J2EE technology interoperate with other SOAP implementations, like .NET?

WebSphere Application Server supports Web services that are consistent with the WS-I Basic Profile, and should interoperate with any other vendor conforming to this specification.

 

Can I use a JavaBeans component to implement a Web service using SOAP Java Message Service (JMS) invocation?

The SOAP and JMS support uses message-driven beans (MDB) to implement the JMS endpoint. You can use MDBs in the Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) container and delegate to an enterprise bean. If you want to use a JavaBeans implementation instead of an enterprise bean to implement the service endpoint, create a facade enterprise bean that delegates to the JavaBeans implementation.

 

Does the SOAP and JMS support interoperate with other vendors?

No. Currently, no specification exists for SOAP and JMS invocations, therefore each vendor chooses an implementation technique.

 

How does two-way messaging with a SOAP and JMS implementation work? Can it support multiple clients making simultaneous requests?

Before a client issues a two-way request, it creates a temporary JMS queue to receive the response. This temporary queue is specified as the replyTo destination that is in the outgoing JMS request message. After the server processes the request, it directs the response to the replyTo destination specified in the request message. The client deletes the temporary queue after the response is received. The server can handle simultaneous requests from multiple clients because each incoming request message contains the destination to which the reply is sent.

 

Related tasks


Troubleshooting Web services

 

Reference topic