Give an examples SOAP metadata ?

Question

I am using Springs 3. I have a method in an Endpoint class which handles the web service request. The method is annotated with @Action to make it asynchronous. The SOAP request header contains some information (like UUID, Reply Address, etc). I need to be able to access these header information from inside this method.

The Spring WS MessageContext as well as the Apache axis MessageContext seems to be empty, so I am not able to use it inside the method to derive the SOAP header.

Answer 1

There are several examples of metadata such as you might find in a SOAP envelope. They would typically be implemented as separate elements within a separate XML namespace outside the SOAP envelope but within the body. Some of these are still the subject of ongoing standardization.

• Transactions: headers that bind multiple SOAP requests (and other sorts of actions) together to ensure consistent results even in the case of errors.
• Authentication: headers to present a user's authorization to make the given request.
• Tracing: headers to mark each request distinctly for auditing or troubleshooting purposes.
• Versioning: headers to indicate any application-specific versions related to the request.

SOAP example
The top-level element within the body is in a namespace particular to the calendar widget.

<c:AddListing xmlns:c="http://uche.ogbuji.net/soap-example/calendar"> <!-- Request arguments go here -> </c:AddListing> 

The element name indicates which particular request we're making of the calendar widget: adding a listing.