Information & Communication

Architecture 2 [BINF 405]

GUC - Spring 2024 – Lecture 3

Distributed Systems using XML,
HTML and HTTP Protocol

Dr. Ayman Al-Serafi

TAs: Ghada Ahmed, Tameem Alghazaly, Youssef Ihab, Mohab Gehad

Outline
1. Running Example: SWIFT Interbank
2. XML Messaging
3. HTML
4. HTTP Protocol Methods for Messaging
5. Conclusion
Q&A breaks
between sections

Urgent Qs only in
between!
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Outline
1. Running Example: SWIFT Interbank
2. XML Messaging
3. HTML
4. HTTP Protocol Methods for Messaging
5. Conclusion

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S.W.I.F.T. in International Politics

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S.W.I.F.T. in International Politics

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S.W.I.F.T. in International Politics
Non-Aligned Movement History

S.W.I.F.T.

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 What is S.W.I.F.T.?
 The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)
 International banking orgranisation for executing global bank transfers and payment transactions since
1973
 Headquartered in Belgium and has a consortium of global partner banks investing in it (Shareholders)

 Supports International bank transaction settlement and clearance between banks via
intermediate banks or …
 In the context of cross-border transactions, this step often takes place through correspondent banking
accounts that financial institutions have with each other.

 “the main messaging network through which international payments are initiated”
(source: Wikipedia)
 It also sells software and services to financial institutions, mostly for use on its proprietary "SWIFTNet",
and ISO 9362 Business Identifier Codes (BICs), popularly known as "SWIFT codes“
 Has its own middleware messaging software, secured TCP/IP network communication, etc.

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 What is S.W.I.F.T.?
 SWIFT handles all intermediary message
authentication, encryption, relaying, auditing, etc…
 Replaced traditional Telex messaging (unstructured
text!)  Requires human intervention!
 SWIFT does not transfer physical cash but rather
facilitates the completion of business transactions
between global banks via machine-to-machine activity

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Running Example: S.W.I.F.T.
Interbank Network
SWIFT is an intermediary
organization using middleware
based on XML!

HTTP
XML METHODS

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 Enterprise Information Integration
(EII)
Data integration was earliest form of integration, but
 batch ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) solutions of the
past were not capable of meeting today’s real-time
Option 1
integration (e.g., with RFID)
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) solved data
latency problem by synchronizing changes across
systems in real time, but
 EAI can effectively move data among systems in real
time, but does not define an aggregated view of the data
Option 2 objects or business entities
We focus
on EAI in
this course!
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Outline
1. Running Example: SWIFT Interbank
2. XML Messaging
3. HTML
4. HTTP Protocol Methods for Messaging
5. Conclusion

Q&A
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 Structured Data
Has fixed schema for data: structure of
data elements that all data instances must
follow!
BIC SWIFT
Bank Name City Address Code
NBE Cairo Head Office NBEGEGCX001
CIB Cairo GUC Branch CIBEEGCX048
Banque Misr Cairo Cairo Head Office BMISEGCX101
Alex Bank Alexandria Alexandria Head Office ALEXEGCX001

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Unstructured Data
 The main branch of the National Bank of
Egypt is located in Cairo and has the code of
NBEGEGCX001

 The bank office with the identification number

ALEXEGCX001 is the Bank of Alexandria
with its head-office in downtown Alexandria

 …
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 Semi-structured Data: e.g., XML
 Data has specific identified fields
<?xml version="1.0"?>
 Fields can have different flexible
<Banks>
hierarchies and embedded <Bank>
information elements or attributes <Name>NBE</Name>
<City>Cairo</City>
<Location>Head Office</Location>
 Fields are not restricted as long
<BIC>NBEGEGCX001</BIC>
as the data file is VALID </Bank>
  Multiple XML schemas /
structures might be valid for the <Bank name="CIB">
same data! <Location>Cairo</Location>
<SWIFT>CIBEEGCX048</SWIFT>
<Type>Commercial</Type>
 Example: eXtensible Markup
Language (XML) </Bank>
... </Banks>
 Schema-less nature of document,
although can define schema with a
schema definition language like
XSD

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 eXtensible Markup Language (XML)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
ROOT <breakfast_menu>
<food>
<name>Belgian Waffles</name>
Element
<price>$5.95</price>
<description>
Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple
syrup
</description>
<calories>650</calories>
Open / </food>
<food>
start tag <name>Strawberry Belgian Waffles</name>
<price>$7.95</price>
<description>
Close / end Light Belgian waffles covered with strawberries and whipped
cream
tag </description>
<calories>900</calories> Attribute
</food>
<food calories=“950”>
<name>Homestyle Breakfast</name>
<price>$6.95</price>
<description>
Two eggs, sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns Data
</description>
</food>
</breakfast_menu>

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 eXtensible Markup Language (XML)
XML Comments: <!- comment here -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> Prologue
<Products>
<Books>
<Book ISBN="978- 0871139856">
<title>So brave, young and handsome</title>
<author>Leif Enger</author>
<publisher>Atlantic monthly press</publisher>
<language>English</language>
<price>$14.40</price>
<rating>5</rating>
</Book>
</Books> Attribute
Root <Magazines>
Element <Magazine ASIN="B00005N7QG">
<title>Good Housekeeping</title>
<publisher>Hearst magazines</publisher>
<language>English</language>
Nested <price>$10.00</price>
<issues>monthly</issues>
Elements <subscription>1-year subscription</subscription>
<rating>4</rating>
</Magazine>
</Magazines>
</Products>

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eXtensible Markup Language (XML)

 Used to transport data between machines and

applications, not to manipulate or process data!
 Therefore, a markup language (NOT programming
language)

 Can be interpreted by humans (readable!) and

machines (has specific defined syntax!)

 A global standard by the W3C (World Wide Web

Consortium)

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How might an XML message
for S.W.I.F.T. transfers
look like?

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 How Might an XML message
for S.W.I.F.T. look like?
<BankTransfer>
<SendingBank> S.W.I.F.T. has to
decide on the
<FinInstId> message format
<BIC>CIBEEGCX140</BIC> all banks must
</FinInstId> use
<AccNum>1000789735</AccNum>
<Transfer type="Instant">
<Amount>1000</Amount>
<Currency>EGP</Currency>
</Transfer> S.W.I.F.T. can consult
banks how to implement
</SendingBank>
this or sell them
<ReceivingBank> specialized software that
<FinInstId> creates such kind of
<BIC>DEUTDESS659</BIC> standard messages!
</FinInstId>
<IBAN currency="EUR"> DE20000223123123123002356
</IBAN>
</ReceivingBank>
</BankTransfer>
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Outline
1. Running Example: SWIFT Interbank
2. XML Messaging
3. HTML
4. HTTP Protocol Methods for Messaging
5. Conclusion

Q&A
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HTML
 HyperText Markeup Language

 Used to define the structure of webpages on the

Internet

 Uses specific predefined XML tags

 Any webpage has an HTML formatted document

behind it
 The browser parses the HTML document by scanning
it and can interpret what needs to appear for the user.

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 Visit W3schools.com to learn
in details HTML, XML, and
HTML Example more

Right-click >> View Page Source

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HTML Tags

No need to write HTML in this

course but just note it is based on
XML with specific defined tags!
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 HTML forms are used to send data from the
client to the web server, e.g., to create a new

HTML Tags account or to login by user or to send bank

transfer details! This is sent by HTTP
messages (following section of this lecture!)

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HTML Tags

When the submit button is clicked it fires an

HTTP request, sending the content of the form
to the web server to process it and return a
response object (E.g., webpage with success
message or logged-in user homepage)!
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Outline
1. Running Example: SWIFT Interbank
2. XML Messaging
3. HTML
4. HTTP Protocol Methods for Messaging
5. Conclusion

Q&A
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HTTP Intro
 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the main
application layer communication protocol in
the TCP/IP WWW network stack

 Manages the communication messages

between a web client and a web server
HTTP Request

Web

Client Server
HTTP
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HTTP Overview Example

 An HTTP Request identifies the specific

action that needs to be performed on a
given resource specified by a Request
URL
 It consists of:
 A Method: the desired
action to be performed
on the identified resource
 A URI which is a path
(URL) to the requested
resource
 The version of HTTP
 An optional Header
 An optional Body

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HTTP Methods Components
Methods: GET,
POST, PUT,
DELETE, etc.
HTTP Request

Web

Client Server
HTTP
Body can include:
Response
HTML, XML,
JSON, etc.

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 HTTP Request Example
POST /transfer HTTP/1.1
Host: api.bank.com This says that
input data sent
Content-Type: application/x- is data from an
www-form-urlencoded HTML form!
Content-Length: 23

amount=120&currency=EGP

GET
/transfer?amount=120&currency=EGP
HTTP/1.1
Host: api.bank.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-
form-urlencoded

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 GET Vs. POST
GET POST
Cached Can be cached Not cached
application/x-www-form-urlencoded or
application/x-www-form-
Encoding type urlencoded
multipart/form-data. Use multipart
encoding for binary data
Yes, when sending data, the
GET method adds the data to the
Restrictions on data length URL; and the length of a URL is No restrictions
limited (maximum URL length is
2048 characters)
No restrictions. Binary data is also
Restrictions on data type Only ASCII characters allowed
allowed
GET is less secure compared to
POST because data sent is part
POST is a little safer than GET
of the URL
because the parameters are not stored
Security in browser history or in web server
Never use GET when sending
logs
passwords or other sensitive
information!
Data is visible to everyone in the
Visibility URL
Data is not displayed in the URL
Data will be re-submitted (the browser
BACK button/Reload Harmless should alert the user that the data are
about to be re-submitted)
Bookmarked Can be bookmarked Cannot be bookmarked
Parameters remain in browser Parameters are not saved in browser
History history history
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 HTTP Response Example
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Mon, 23 May 2021 22:38:34 GMT
Content-Type: application/xml; charset=UTF-8
Content-Length: 241
Last-Modified: Wed, 23 May 2021 23:37:55 GMT
Server: Apache/1.3.3.7 (Unix) (Red-Hat/Linux)
ETag: "3f80f-1b6-3e1cb03b"
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Connection: close

<BankTransfer state=”successful”>
<Sender>
<BIC> CIBEEGCX048</BIC>
<account>1022131233</account>
<amount currency=”EGP”>1000</amount>
</Sender>
<Receiver>
<BIC> ALEXEGCX001</BIC>
<account>45992388399</account>
</Receiver>
</BankTransfer>

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 HTTP Response Example
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Mon, 23 May 2021 22:38:34 GMT
Content-Type: application/xml; charset=UTF-8 This is the HTTP
Content-Length: 241 response message
Last-Modified: Wed, 23 May 2021 23:37:55 GMT header. Describes the
Server: Apache/1.3.3.7 (Unix) (Red-Hat/Linux) content of the message
ETag: "3f80f-1b6-3e1cb03b"
and the type to be XML!
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Connection: close

<BankTransfer state=”successful”>
<Sender>
This is the HTTP
<BIC> CIBEEGCX048</BIC>
response message
<account>1022131233</account>
<amount currency=”EGP”>1000</amount> body. Contains the
</Sender> content of the message,
<Receiver> which is XML in this
<BIC> ALEXEGCX001</BIC> case!
<account>45992388399</account>
</Receiver>
</BankTransfer>

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HTTP
Request methods

 HTTP request methods indicate the desired

action to be performed on the identified
resource:
 GET
 Requests a representation of the specified resource.
 POST
 Submits data to be processed (e.g., from an HTML form) to
the identified resource. The data is included in the body of
the request.
 PUT
 Uploads a representation of the specified resource.
 DELETE
 Deletes the specified resource.

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Outline
1. Running Example: SWIFT Interbank
2. XML Messaging
3. HTML
4. HTTP Protocol Methods for Messaging
5. Conclusion

Q&A
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DISTRIBUTED COMMUNICATION
ARCHITECTURE A standard message
GET or POST?
format!
GET! As data parameters (WEB HTTP protocol)
given in URL!

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HTML Tags Default method=“get”, can
change to method=“Post”

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S.W.I.F.T.’s Effect
 In essence, SWIFT is a messaging interface
(middleware) that uses XML messages and
the TCP-IP protocol (sending XML between
machines using HTTP messages).

 Just simple XML messaging communication

systems like SWIFT can affect global politics,
economics and trade!
 See how important this course is?! 

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Date Lecture (Saturdays) Tutorials (in same week)

Week 1 Introduction to Information & Communication Architecture II

Intro + XML Lab

Week 2 Distributed Systems

Web APIs + HTTP Protocols Lab

Week 3 XML Intro + HTML + HTTP Protocol (Intro to VS and Webforms + XML Binding)
HTTP API Methods + Practical for HTTP methods
Week 4 Cloud Computing  Assignment 1
 Mini-Project 1
HTTP API Methods + Practical for HTTP methods
Week 5 Virtualisation
 Quiz 1
Week 6 Middleware Overview and components Cloud Computing Case Study
16 March –
Mid-Term Exam
1 April
Virtualization Case Study
Week 7 Middleware Overview and Components  Assignment 1 submission
 Mini-Project 1 submission
SOA, Web Services and SOAP
Week 8 The Organizational SOA Roadmap
 Assignment 2
Week 9 Registering and Discovering Web Services SOAP + WSDL + UDDI Lab
REST API Lab 1 +JSON
Week 10 REST API  Assignment 2 submission
 Quiz 2
Middleware Messaging, Enterprise Service Bus, REST API Lab 2
Week 11  Final Project submission
Transaction Processing
Final Course Lab
Middleware Messaging, Enterprise Service Bus,
Week 12  Quiz 3
Transaction Processing
 Assignment 2 submission
Week 13 Revision
28 May - 13 June
Final Exam
Course Material

CMS

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 THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION
NEXT WEEK: Cloud Computing
& Virtualisation

NEXT TUTORIAL: XML and

HTTP API Methods