Simple Object Access Protocol

(SOAP)

by Kazi Huque

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Presentation Outline
 Definition
 Motivation
 Characteristics
 SOAP message format
 SOAP in code
 SOAP Security
 SOAP in action
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What is SOAP?
 SOAP is a lightweight protocol intended for
exchanging structured information in a
decentralized, distributed environment. SOAP
uses XML technologies to define an extensible
messaging framework, which provides a message
construct that can be exchanged over a variety of
underlying protocols. The framework has been
designed to be independent of any particular
programming model and other implementation-
specific semantics.
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SOAP is the Foundation

WS-Secure
Conversation WS-Federation WS-Authorization

WS-Policy WS-Trust WS-Privacy

WS-Security
SOAP

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Simply Put...
 SOAP is a way for a program running in
one operating system to communicate with
a program running in either the same or a
different operating system, using HTTP
(or any other transport protocol) and
XML.

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SOAP Messaging Framework
 XML-based messaging framework that is
 1) extensible
 2) interoperable
 3) independent
 Next we discuss these three characteristics
in more detail

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Extensible
 Simplicity remains one of SOAP's primary
design goals
 SOAP defines a communication
framework that allows for features such as
security, routing, and reliability to be
added later as layered extensions

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Interoperable
 SOAP can be used over any transport
protocol such as TCP, HTTP, SMTP
 SOAP provides an explicit binding today
for HTTP

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Interoperable Cont…

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Independent
 SOAP allows for any programming model
and is not tied to RPC
 SOAP defines a model for processing
individual, one-way messages
 SOAP also allows for any number of
message exchange patterns (MEPs)

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One-Way Message

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Request/Response

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SOAP Message Format
 SOAP message consists of three parts:
 SOAP Envelope

 SOAP Header (optional)

 SOAP Body

From the http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/

namespace
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SOAP Envelope
 The SOAP Envelope construct defines an
overall framework for expressing what is
in a message and who should deal with it.

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SOAP Envelope Cont…
 The Envelope is the top element of the
XML document representing the message.
 The Envelope element is always the root
element of a SOAP message.
 The Envelope element contains an optional
Header element followed by a mandatory
Body element.

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 SOAP Envelope Code
<soap:Envelope
xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<soap:Header> <!-- optional -->
<!-- header blocks go here... -->
</soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<!-- payload or Fault element goes here... -->
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

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SOAP Header
 The Header element is a generic container
for control information
 It may contain any number of elements
from any namespace
 Header blocks should contain information
that influences payload processing
 Header is optional
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 SOAP Header Code
<soap:Header>
<!-- security credentials -->
<s:credentials xmlns:s="urn:examples-org:security">
<username>dave</username>
<password>evad</password>
</s:credentials>
</soap:Header>

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SOAP Body
 The Body element represents the message
payload

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 SOAP Body Code
<soap:Body>
<x:TransferFunds xmlns:x="urn:examples-org:banking">
<from>22-342439</from>
<to>98-283843</to>
<amount>100.00</amount>
</x:TransferFunds>
</soap:Body>

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 SOAP in Code
SOAP Message Embedded in HTTP Request:

<SOAP-ENV:Envelope
xmlns:SOAP-ENV="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
SOAPENV:encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">
<SOAP-ENV:Body>
<m:GetLastTradePrice xmlns:m="Some-URI">
<symbol>DIS</symbol>
</m:GetLastTradePrice>
</SOAP-ENV:Body>
</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>

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 SOAP in Code Cont…
SOAP Message Embedded in HTTP Response:

<SOAP-ENV:Envelope
xmlns:SOAP-ENV="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
SOAP-ENV:encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/"/>
<SOAP-ENV:Body>
<m:GetLastTradePriceResponse xmlns:m="Some-URI">
<Price>34.5</Price>
</m:GetLastTradePriceResponse>
</SOAP-ENV:Body>
</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>

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SOAP Security
 The SOAP specification does not define
encryption for XML Web Services.
 This is left up to the implementer of the
SOAP protocol.

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Issues About Security
 Encryption places a dependency on the
transport protocol
 Does the transport protocol support
secure communication?
 What is the cost of encrypting all the data
versus part of the data?

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SOAP Code with Encryption
<%@ WebService Language="C#" Class="CreditCardService" %>

using System.Web.Services;

public class CreditCardService {

[WebMethod]
[EncryptionExtension(Encrypt=EncryptMode.Response)]
public string GetCreditCardNumber() {
return "MC: 4111-1111-1111-1111";
}
}
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 Request Encrypted
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<soap:Body>
<GetCreditCardNumber xmlns="http://tempuri.org/" />
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

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Response Encrypted
<soap:Body>
<GetCreditCardNumber xmlns="http://tempuri.org/">
<GetCreditCardNumberResult>83 151 243 32 53 95 86 13 190 134
188 241 198 209 72 114 122 38 180 34 194 138 16 97 221 195 239 86 26
152 94 27
</GetCreditCardNumberResult>
</GetCreditCardNumber>
</soap:Body>

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SOAP in Action

Demo

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References
 Understanding SOAP
Overall explanation of what SOAP is, and what it can do.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/webservices/understanding/webservicebasics/default.aspx?pull
=/library/en-us//dnsoap/html/understandsoap.asp

 W3C Note
Explains how SOAP exchanges messages. Code level
details.

http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/NOTE-SOAP-20000508/

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