WS-Addressing in SOA

ü WS-Addressing is one of the WS-* Specifications.

ü WS-Addressing defines the standard way of including the address information of the message into the web service messages.

Features of WS-Addressing Specification:

★ Where it comes from(Source of the message)

★ Where it is supposed to reach(Destination of the message)

★ Specific person at the address to whom it is supposed to reach

★ Where it should it go if any failure occurs during transmission

 

Address relating to other parts of SOA

ü Other WS-* Specification implicitly depend on the use of WS-Addressing.

WS-Addressing Specification has two important concepts:

★ Endpoint References

★ Message Information Headers.

Endpoint References:

ü WS-Addressing introduced a concept called endpoint reference, an extension provided to the identifiers for pinpointing a particular instance of the service.

ü Endpoint reference contain a set of supplementary  properties and the reference is dynamically generated.

 

 

The parts in endpoint reference are:

Ø address - URL of the web service.

Ø reference properties - Set of property values associated with the Web Service Instance.

Ø reference parameters - Set of parameter values used to interact with a specific service instance.

Ø service port type and port type - Specific service interface information provides the message recipient. The recipient contains the exact location of service description details required for a reply.

Ø policy - provides rules and behavior information relevant to the service interaction.

The main important part in endpoint reference is address, except address all other parts are optional.

Message Information Headers:

   WS-Addressing introduced a concept called Message information Headers, an extension provided to include new SOAP headers which establish message exchange related characteristics within the message themselves.

 

MI headers include:

Ø destination- address to which the message is sent.

Ø source endpoint - endpoint reference to the web service which generated the message.

Ø reply endpoint - it allows a message to dictate to which address its reply should be conveyed.

Ø fault endpoint - it gives the message the ability to set the address to which a fault notification should be sent.

Ø message id -  a value which identifies the message uniquely.

Ø relationship - contains the message id of the relation message to which a message is replying.

Ø action - URI value which indicates the message's overall purpose.