Entry

Delphi: Data: Send: Receive: Microsoft: SOAP: What is SOAP?

Mar 6th, 2005 07:11
Knud van Eeden,

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--- Knud van Eeden --- 16 October 2003 - 07:30 am --------------------

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Delphi: Data: Send: Receive: Microsoft: SOAP: What is SOAP?

SOAP, or Simple Object Access Protocol, is a protocol
for exchange of information in decentralized, distributed systems
like Internet.

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With SOAP you can send data (for example database information) in
a standardized way between web applications.

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SOAP is platform independent and language independent and makes
it possible to communicate between applications running on
Windows, Linux, Solaris, Mac, IBM, ..., written in any programming
language -- given that they include support for SOAP.

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You can also use SOAP for RPC (=Remote Procedure Calls), in other words
for calling methods in Web services, and receiving answer from them.

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SOAP is XML based (but does not specify further how the data is
sent physically over the connections)

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Instead for developing a new own communications protocol, they have
chosen to bind SOAP with the known, usual protocols like HTTP and SMTP.

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The most usual is HTTP, where they are using the aid of web servers
(via request/response) for receiving and sending data.
From this follows that you immediately can use SOAP with the existing
Internet techniques, without installation of any new communications
software.

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SOAP on its own does not demand HTTP, and it might be possible that
there will be developed alternatives to HTTP in the future.
But because SOAP is an abstract protocol, such a change will not
demand that the SOAP based applications should change.

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[Internet: source: 
http://www.databiten.se/products/delphi/delphi7/d7news3.htm]

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