WebServices dot org

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The W3C announced last week that it has launched a Web Services Addressing Working Group, chartered through February 2006 and chaired by BEA's Mark Nottingham.

The group will produce a W3C recommendation for Web services addressing by refining and building on the WS-Addressing specification to define how message headers direct messages, to provide an XML format for exchanging endpoint references, and to define mechanisms to direct replies or faults.

The WS-Addressing spec is a W3C Member Submission authored by BEA, IBM, Microsoft, SAP AG, and Sun Microsystems and presented to the W3C in revised form in August 2004.

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The new W3C Web Services Addressing Working Group has been chartered to "standardize the mechanisms for referencing and addressing Web services by refining WS-Addressing, which includes four principal components of the W3C's Web Services Architecture specification. These referencing and addressing mechanisms are (1) a means by which message headers are used to direct messages to a Web service or agent; (2) abstract message properties (message identifier; a URI for the destination address; a URI designating the action to be taken at the destination; correlation with other message[s]; the nature of the relationship with those messages) (3) an appropriate XML Infoset definition; (4) abstract properties to identify subsequent destinations in the message exchange, including the reply destination and the fault destination."

The XML Infoset required for "communicating the information necessary to generate appropriate headers to direct messages to a service or an agent includes a URI designating the destination address; service specific message headers; interaction specific message headers; WSDL definitions relevant to this service; additional metadata as required."

According to the WG Charter, these components "must be extensible to enable other mechanisms such as new kinds of relationships between correlated messages, policies, or service semantics to be built upon Web Services Addressing. The components must also be usable independently of the SOAP or WSDL version in use."

Additionally, the WG will define SOAP 1.1 and WSDL 1.1 bindings (defined for backward compatibility only). It will define (1) a binding of all abstract message properties to SOAP 1.1 and SOAP 1.2 headers, (2) the use of these abstract message properties in the context of all WSDL 1.1 or WSDL 2.0 Message Exchange Patterns, including the asynchronous use of these MEPs; in particular, the relationship between message properties and WSDL 1.1 and WSDL 2.0 service descriptions will be provided if applicable, and (3) a security model for using and communicating these abstract properties."

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WS-Addressing took another step forward today towards becoming a ratified standard with the formation of the Web Services Addressing Working Group at W3C.

The WG charter is online here and Mark Nottingham is the WG Chair.

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WS-Addressing is a key part of the core Web services architecture. In particular, the specification is designed to underlie other specifications, such as WS-ReliableMessaging, WS-Federation and WS-AtomicTransaction, providing a consistent, interoperable and standards-based mechanism for Web services addressing.

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What is your favourite Web services specification?

Jorgen:

I would say my absolute favorite is WS-Addressing because transport neutral addressing is so important to Web services and fundamental to the whole Web service architecture. Also, nearly every other spec leverages the functionality in WS-Addressing, although I do think people are struggling to understand its importance.

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