On Mon, 2003-01-13 at 08:32, Wagner,Harry wrote:
> Hi Tod,
> I considered using a simple GET/POST approach, but admit I don't see the
> benefit to this.  I am leaning towards implementing our application
> interfaces as Web services, using a toolkit - probably Axis.

Other than you don't need a SOAP client that understands DC Registry
soap messages (how many browsers are out there again and how hard is it
fetch a URL in most programing/scripting languages)? Are there ready
made SOAP clients?

I think fetching a document is much more desirable than implement half a
client-server pair (err unless a tighter coupling is what your after).


I didn't see these as competing interfaces, but rather layers (SOAP is
pretty much an envelop right?).  The layers: Query, format/merge and
envelop (e.g., SOAP) perhaps could be designed to complement each other.

Important side effect: Giving URLs to objects in the Registry is a
stand-up idea.

Wrapping the mess in SOAP tags is not going to make specifying a query
any easier or help with merging multiple translation into a single
document (or even a single translation that is not encoded in RDFS). But
once those tasks are solved seems a shame to hide them in the bowels of
the server. Why not expose as much as you can and let the community tell
what is valuable?

Finally, WebService descriptions (UDDI, WSIL, WSDL, DAML-S,...) are
pretty much a moving target and will be hard to find any clear
consensus. So I would spend as little time here as possible.

Cheers Tod...


>
> I am also considering WSIL
> (http://cvs.apache.org/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/xml-axis-wsil/java/README.htm)
> for enabling discovery of the services.  WSIL is a light-weight alternative
> to UDDI.  Anyone have any experience with WSIL?
>
> Best Regards,
> Harry
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Tod Matola [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 3:45 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Phase 2 Application Interface
> >
> >
> > Or use alternative 3:
> > - GET/POST to server up an RDF/S document (with some mime type).
> >
> > (Or in addition to the SOAP route).
> >
> > Cheers Tod...
> >
> >
> > On Fri, 2003-01-10 at 08:39, Wagner,Harry wrote:
> > > Dear WG Members,
> > > I've had an opportunity to evaluate the Apache Axis project
> > > (http://xml.apache.org/axis/index.html) recently.  Axis is
> > a Web services
> > > toolkit built on SOAP, and appears to be a good fit for our phase 2
> > > application interface.  There are numerous advantages to
> > building on this
> > > type of toolkit:
> > >
> > > - It is flexible, providing support for SOAP 1.1, parts of 1.2 (will
> > > eventually support all of 1.2) and SOAP with attachments
> > > - It greatly simplifies implementing Web services
> > > - It would enable us to expose much of the already written
> > phase 1 code as
> > > Web services
> > > - It understands WSDL and simplifies exposing it for all implemented
> > > services (simply append "?wsdl" to the end of the service
> > name).  WSDL, for
> > > those not familiar with it, is an XML language for
> > describing Web services.
> > > It is important because it can be used to generate client
> > stubs, and is what
> > > makes the implemented service protocol neutral (by removing
> > the need for
> > > clients to understand SOAP).
> > >
> > > Some issues that need considered:
> > >
> > > - The long-standing issue of how to send RDF using SOAP in
> > a way that is
> > > meaningful to the client.  This problem is well documented in
> > >
> http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/library/ws-soaprdf/.  The
> > options boil down to sending the data as XML, or sending it as raw RDF (in
> > the form of a big text literal).  Sending it as XML seems the more useful
> > approach since it would be useful in that form to XML applications.  RDF
> > applications could still create statements from it, with some effort on
> > their part.
> > - How to document the services.  Businesses do this using well-known UDDI
> > registries.  Do we do the same?  Do we create our own?
> >
> > Your comments and suggestions are welcome.  I would especially like to
> hear
> > from anyone who has experience with Axis.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > Harry Wagner
> > OCLC / DCMI
> > Dublin, OH  43017
> > (614) 761-5178
> > mailto:[log in to unmask]
> --
> Tod Matola <[log in to unmask]>
--
Tod Matola <[log in to unmask]>