How Does a Web Service Work?

How Does a Web Service Work?

The web service provides open standards such as HTML, XML, WSDL, and SOAP between different applications. A web service is supported by –

  • XML to tag the data
  • SOAP to transfer a message
  • WSDL to describe the availability of service.

The Java Web Service can be built on Solaris and accessible via your Windows-based Visual Basic software.

You may also use C# to construct new Windows Web services, which you can invoke on JavaServer Pages (JSP) and run Linux from your web application.

Example

Consider simple processing of accounts and orders. Customer accounting personnel will create a new account and enter new customer orders using a client app created with Visual Basic or JSP.

The processing logic is implemented in Java on a Solaris machine that also interacts with a database to store information.

The following actions are taken to conduct this operation –

  • The client program bundles information on the account registration in a SOAP message.
  • The SOAP message is submitted as an HTTP POST request to the web service.
  • The Web Service unpacks and transforms the SOAP application into a comprehensible command.
  • The application processes the data as requested and answers this consumer with a new account number.
  • The Web service packages the answer in another SOAP message and returns it as a response to your HTTP request to the customer.
  • The client application unpacks the SOAP message to acquire the recording results.