OldDocs::SOAP::Lite(3)User Contributed Perl DocumentatioOldDocs::SOAP::Lite(3)NAME
SOAP::Lite - Client and server side SOAP implementation
SYNOPSIS
use SOAP::Lite;
print SOAP::Lite
-> uri('http://www.soaplite.com/Temperatures')
-> proxy('http://services.soaplite.com/temper.cgi')
-> f2c(32)
-> result;
The same code with autodispatch:
use SOAP::Lite +autodispatch =>
uri => 'http://www.soaplite.com/Temperatures',
proxy => 'http://services.soaplite.com/temper.cgi';
print f2c(32);
Code in OO-style:
use SOAP::Lite +autodispatch =>
uri => 'http://www.soaplite.com/Temperatures',
proxy => 'http://services.soaplite.com/temper.cgi';
my $temperatures = Temperatures->new(32); # get object
print $temperatures->as_celsius; # invoke method
Code with service description:
use SOAP::Lite;
print SOAP::Lite
-> service('http://www.xmethods.net/sd/StockQuoteService.wsdl')
-> getQuote('MSFT');
Code for SOAP server (CGI):
use SOAP::Transport::HTTP;
SOAP::Transport::HTTP::CGI
-> dispatch_to('/Your/Path/To/Deployed/Modules', 'Module::Name', 'Module::method')
-> handle;
Visual Basic client (through COM interface):
MsgBox CreateObject("SOAP.Lite").new( _
"proxy", "http://services.xmethods.net/soap", _
"uri", "urn:xmethods-delayed-quotes" _
).getQuote("MSFT").result
mod_soap enabled SOAP server:
.htaccess
SetHandler perl-script
PerlHandler Apache::SOAP
PerlSetVar dispatch_to "/Your/Path/To/Deployed/Modules, Module::Name"
ASP/VB SOAP server:
<%
Response.ContentType = "text/xml"
Response.Write(Server.CreateObject("SOAP.Lite") _
.server("SOAP::Server") _
.dispatch_to("/Your/Path/To/Deployed/Modules") _
.handle(Request.BinaryRead(Request.TotalBytes)) _
)
%>
DESCRIPTION
SOAP::Lite is a collection of Perl modules which provides a simple and
lightweight interface to the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) both
on client and server side.
This version of SOAP::Lite supports the SOAP 1.1 specification (
http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP ).
The main features of the library are:
o Supports SOAP 1.1 spec.
o Interoperability tests with different implementations: Apache SOAP,
Apache Axis, Frontier, Microsoft SOAP, Microsoft .NET, DevelopMen-
tor, XMethods, 4s4c, Phalanx, PocketSOAP, Kafka, SQLData, Lucin (in
Java, Perl, C++, Python, VB, COM, XSLT).
o Provides COM interface. Single dll (standalone [2.5MB] or minimal
[32kB]). Works on Windows 9x/Me/NT/2K. Doesn't require ROPE or
MSXML. Examples in VB, Excel/VBA, C#, ASP, JavaScript, PerlScript
and Perl.
o Provides transparent compression support for HTTP transport.
o Provides mod_soap module. Make SOAP server with a few lines in
.htaccess or .conf file.
o Includes XML::Parser::Lite (regexp-based XML parser) which runs
instead of XML::Parser where Perl 5.6 runs (even on WinCE) with some
limitations.
o Includes XMLRPC::Lite, implementation of XML-RPC protocol on client
and server side. All transports and features of SOAP::Lite are
available.
o Supports multipart/form-data MIME attachments.
o Supports circular linked lists and multiple references.
o Supports Map datatype (encoding of maps/hashes with arbitrary keys).
o Supports HTTPS protocol.
o Provides proxy support.
o Provides CGI/daemon/mod_perl/Apache::Registry server implementa-
tions.
o Provides TCP server implementation.
o Provides IO (STDIN/STDOUT/File) server implementation.
o Provides FTP client implementation.
o Supports single/multipart MIME attachment (parsing side only).
o Supports SMTP protocol.
o Provides POP3 server implementation.
o Supports M-POST and redirects in HTTP transport.
o Supports Basic/Digest server authentication.
o Works with CGI accelerators, like VelociGen and PerlEx.
o Supports UDDI interface on client side. See UDDI::Lite for details.
o Supports UDDI publishing API. Examples and documentation provided.
o Supports WSDL schema with stub and run-time access.
o Supports blessed object references.
o Supports arrays (both serialization and deserialization with auto-
typing).
o Supports custom serialization.
o Provides exception transport with custom exceptions
o Supports Base64 encoding.
o Supports XML entity encoding.
o Supports header attributes.
o Supports dynamic and static class/method binding.
o Supports objects-by-reference with simple garbage collection and
activation.
o Provides shell for interactive SOAP sessions.
o Supports out parameters binding.
o Supports transparent SOAP calls with autodispatch feature.
o Provides easy services deployment. Put module in specified directory
and it'll be accessible.
o Has tests, examples and documentation to let you be up and running
in no time.
WHERE TO FIND EXAMPLES
See t/*.t, examples/*.pl and the module documentation for a client-side
examples that demonstrate the serialization of a SOAP request, sending
it via HTTP to the server and receiving the response, and the deserial-
ization of the response. See examples/server/* for server-side imple-
mentations.
OVERVIEW OF CLASSES AND PACKAGES
This table should give you a quick overview of the classes provided by
the library.
SOAP::Lite.pm
-- SOAP::Lite -- Main class provides all logic
-- SOAP::Transport -- Supports transport architecture
-- SOAP::Data -- Provides extensions for serialization architecture
-- SOAP::Header -- Provides extensions for header serialization
-- SOAP::Parser -- Parses XML file into object tree
-- SOAP::Serializer -- Serializes data structures to SOAP package
-- SOAP::Deserializer -- Deserializes results of SOAP::Parser into objects
-- SOAP::SOM -- Provides access to deserialized object tree
-- SOAP::Constants -- Provides access to common constants
-- SOAP::Trace -- Provides tracing facilities
-- SOAP::Schema -- Provides access and stub(s) for schema(s)-- SOAP::Schema::WSDL -- WSDL implementation for SOAP::Schema
-- SOAP::Server -- Handles requests on server side
-- SOAP::Server::Object -- Handles objects-by-reference
-- SOAP::Fault -- Provides support for Faults on server side
-- SOAP::Utils -- A set of private and public utility subroutines
SOAP::Transport::HTTP.pm
-- SOAP::Transport::HTTP::Client -- Client interface to HTTP transport
-- SOAP::Transport::HTTP::Server -- Server interface to HTTP transport
-- SOAP::Transport::HTTP::CGI -- CGI implementation of server interface
-- SOAP::Transport::HTTP::Daemon -- Daemon implementation of server interface
-- SOAP::Transport::HTTP::Apache -- mod_perl implementation of server interface
SOAP::Transport::POP3.pm
-- SOAP::Transport::POP3::Server -- Server interface to POP3 protocol
SOAP::Transport::MAILTO.pm
-- SOAP::Transport::MAILTO::Client -- Client interface to SMTP/sendmail
SOAP::Transport::LOCAL.pm
-- SOAP::Transport::LOCAL::Client -- Client interface to local transport
SOAP::Transport::TCP.pm
-- SOAP::Transport::TCP::Server -- Server interface to TCP protocol
-- SOAP::Transport::TCP::Client -- Client interface to TCP protocol
SOAP::Transport::IO.pm
-- SOAP::Transport::IO::Server -- Server interface to IO transport
SOAP::Lite
All methods that "SOAP::Lite" provides can be used for both setting and
retrieving values. If you provide no parameters, you will get current
value, and if parameters are provided, a new value will be assigned to
the object and the method in question will return the current object
(if not stated otherwise). This is suitable for stacking these calls
like:
$lite = SOAP::Lite
-> uri('http://simon.fell.com/calc')
-> proxy('http://soap.4s4c.com/ssss4c/soap.asp')
;
The order is insignificant and you may call the new() method first. If
you don't do it, SOAP::Lite will do it for you. However, the new()
method gives you an additional syntax:
$lite = new SOAP::Lite
uri => 'http://simon.fell.com/calc',
proxy => 'http://soap.4s4c.com/ssss4c/soap.asp'
;
new()new() accepts a hash with method names as keys. It will call the
appropriate methods together with the passed values. Since new() is
optional it won't be mentioned anymore.
transport()
Provides access to the "SOAP::Transport" object. The object will be
created for you. You can reassign it (but generally you should
not).
serializer()
Provides access to the "SOAP::Serializer" object. The object will
be created for you. You can reassign it (but generally you should
not).
proxy()
Shortcut for "transport->proxy()". This lets you specify an end-
point (service address) and also loads the required module at the
same time. It is required for dispatching SOAP calls. The name of
the module will be defined depending on the protocol specific for
the endpoint. The prefix "SOAP::Transport" will be prepended, the
module will be loaded and object of class (with appended
"::Client") will be created.
For example, for http://localhost/, the class for creating objects
will look for "SOAP::Transport:HTTP::Client";
In addition to endpoint parameter, proxy() can accept any transport
specific parameters that could be passed as name => value pairs.
For example, to specify proxy settings for HTTP protocol you may
do:
$soap->proxy('http://endpoint.server/',
proxy => ['http' => 'http://my.proxy.server/']);
Notice that since proxy (second one) expects to get more than one
parameter you should wrap them in array.
Another useful example can be the client that is sensitive to
cookie-based authentication. You can provide this with:
$soap->proxy('http://localhost/',
cookie_jar => HTTP::Cookies->new(ignore_discard => 1));
You may specify timeout for HTTP transport with following code:
$soap->proxy('http://localhost/', timeout => 5);
endpoint()
Lets you specify an endpoint without changing/loading the protocol
module. This is useful for switching endpoints without switching
protocols. You should call "proxy()" first. No checks for protocol
equivalence will be made.
outputxml()
Lets you specify the kind of output from all method calls. If
"true", all methods will return unprocessed, raw XML code. You can
parse it with XML::Parser, SOAP::Deserializer or any other appro-
priate module.
autotype()
Shortcut for "serializer->autotype()". This lets you specify
whether the serializer will try to make autotyping for you or not.
Default setting is "true".
readable()
Shortcut for "serializer->readable()". This lets you specify the
format for the generated XML code. Carriage returns <CR> and inden-
tation will be added for readability. Useful in the case you want
to see the generated code in a debugger. By default, there are no
additional characters in generated XML code.
use_prefix()
Shortcut for "serializer->use_prefix()". This lets you turn on/off
the use of a namespace prefix for the children of the /Enve-
lope/Body element. Default is 'true'. (This was introduced in 0.61
for better .NET compatibility)
When use_prefix is set to 'true', serialized XML will look like
this:
<SOAP-ENV:Envelope ...attributes skipped>
<SOAP-ENV:Body>
<namesp1:mymethod xmlns:namesp1="urn:MyURI" />
</SOAP-ENV:Body>
</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>
When use_prefix is set to 'true', serialized XML will look like
this:
<SOAP-ENV:Envelope ...attributes skipped>
<SOAP-ENV:Body>
<mymethod xmlns="urn:MyURI" />
</SOAP-ENV:Body>
</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>
namespace()
Shortcut for "serializer->namespace()". This lets you specify the
default namespace for generated envelopes ('SOAP-ENV' by default).
encodingspace()
Shortcut for "serializer->encodingspace()". This lets you specify
the default encoding namespace for generated envelopes ('SOAP-ENC'
by default).
encoding()
Shortcut for "serializer->encoding()". This lets you specify the
encoding for generated envelopes. It does not actually change enve-
lope encoding, it will just modify the XML declaration ('UTF-8' by
default). Use "undef" value to not generate XML declaration.
typelookup()
Shortcut for "serializer->typelookup()". This gives you access to
the "typelookup" table that is used for autotyping. For more infor-
mation see "SOAP::Serializer".
uri()
Shortcut for "serializer->uri()". This lets you specify the uri for
SOAP methods. Nothing is specified by default and your call will
definitely fail if you don't specify the required uri.
WARNING: URIs are just identifiers. They may look like URLs, but
they are not guaranteed to point to anywhere and shouldn't be used
as such pointers. URIs assume to be unique within the space of all
XML documents, so consider them as unique identifiers and nothing
else.
multirefinplace()
Shortcut for "serializer->multirefinplace()". If true, the serial-
izer will put values for multireferences in the first occurrence of
the reference. Otherwise it will be encoded as top independent
element, right after "method" element inside "Body". Default value
is "false".
header()
DEPRECATED: Use SOAP::Header instead.
Shortcut for "serializer->header()". This lets you specify the
header for generated envelopes. You can specify "root", "mustUnder-
stand" or any other header using "SOAP::Data" class:
$serializer = SOAP::Serializer->envelope('method' => 'mymethod', 1,
SOAP::Header->name(t1 => 5)->mustUnderstand(1),
SOAP::Header->name(t2 => 7)->mustUnderstand(2),
);
will be serialized into:
<SOAP-ENV:Envelope ...attributes skipped>
<SOAP-ENV:Header>
<t1 xsi:type="xsd:int" SOAP-ENV:mustUnderstand="1">5</t1>
<t2 xsi:type="xsd:int" SOAP-ENV:mustUnderstand="1">7</t2>
</SOAP-ENV:Header>
<SOAP-ENV:Body>
<namesp1:mymethod xmlns:namesp1="urn:SOAP__Serializer">
<c-gensym6 xsi:type="xsd:int">1</c-gensym6>
</namesp1:mymethod>
</SOAP-ENV:Body>
</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>
You can mix "SOAP::Header" parameters with other parameters and you
can also return "SOAP::Header" parameters as a result of a remote
call. They will be placed into the header. See "My::Parame-
ters::addheader" as an example.
on_action()
This lets you specify a handler for "on_action event". It is trig-
gered when creating SOAPAction. The default handler will set SOA-
PAction to "uri#method". You can change this behavior globally (see
"DEFAULT SETTINGS") or locally, for a particular object.
on_fault()
This lets you specify a handler for "on_fault" event. The default
behavior is to die on an transport error and to do nothing on other
error conditions. You may change this behavior globally (see
"DEFAULT SETTINGS") or locally, for a particular object.
on_debug()
This lets you specify a handler for "on_debug event". Default
behavior is to do nothing. Use "+trace/+debug" option for
SOAP::Lite instead. If you use if be warned that since this method
is just interface to "+trace/+debug" it has global effect, so if
you install it for one object it'll be in effect for all subsequent
calls (even for other objects).
See also: SOAP::Trace;
on_nonserialized()
This lets you specify a handler for "on_nonserialized event". The
default behavior is to produce a warning if warnings are on for
everything that cannot be properly serialized (like CODE references
or GLOBs).
call()
Provides alternative interface for remote method calls. You can
always run "SOAP::Lite->new(...)->method(@parameters)", but call()
gives you several additional options:
prefixed method
If you want to specify prefix for generated method's element
one of the available options is do it with call() interface:
print SOAP::Lite
-> new(....)
-> call('myprefix:method' => @parameters)
-> result;
This example will work on client side only. If you want to
change prefix on server side you should override default seri-
alizer. See examples/server/soap.* for examples.
access to any method
If for some reason you want to get access to remote procedures
that have the same name as methods of SOAP::Lite object these
calls (obviously) won't be dispatched. In that case you can
originate your call trough call():
print SOAP::Lite
-> new(....)
-> call(new => @parameters)
-> result;
implementation of OO interface
With autodispatch you can make CLASS/OBJECT calls like:
my $obj = CLASS->new(@parameters);
print $obj->method;
However, because of side effects autodispatch has, it's not
always possible to use this syntax. call() provides you with
alternative:
# you should specify uri()
my $soap = SOAP::Lite
-> uri('http://my.own.site/CLASS') # <<< CLASS goes here
# ..... other parameters
;
my $obj = $soap->call(new => @parameters)->result;
print $soap->call(method => $obj)->result;
# $obj object will be updated here if necessary,
# as if you call $obj->method() and method() updates $obj
# Update of modified object MAY not work if server on another side
# is not SOAP::Lite
ability to set method's attributes
Additionally this syntax lets you specify attributes for method
element:
print SOAP::Lite
-> new(....)
-> call(SOAP::Data->name('method')->attr({xmlns => 'mynamespace'})
=> @parameters)
-> result;
You can specify any attibutes and "name" of "SOAP::Data" ele-
ment becomes name of method. Everything else except attributes
is ignored and parameters should be provided as usual.
Be warned, that though you have more control using this method,
you should specify namespace attribute for method explicitely,
even if you made uri() call earlier. So, if you have to have
namespace on method element, instead of:
print SOAP::Lite
-> new(....)
-> uri('mynamespace') # will be ignored
-> call(SOAP::Data->name('method') => @parameters)
-> result;
do
print SOAP::Lite
-> new(....)
-> call(SOAP::Data->name('method')->attr({xmlns => 'mynamespace'})
=> @parameters)
-> result;
because in the former call uri() will be ignored and namespace
won't be specified. If you run script with "-w" option (as rec-
ommended) SOAP::Lite gives you a warning:
URI is not provided as attribute for method (method)
Moreover, it'll become fatal error if you try to call it with
prefixed name:
print SOAP::Lite
-> new(....)
-> uri('mynamespace') # will be ignored
-> call(SOAP::Data->name('a:method') => @parameters)
-> result;
gives you:
Can't find namespace for method (a:method)
because nothing is associated with prefix 'a'.
One more comment. One case when SOAP::Lite will change something
that you specified is when you specified prefixed name and empty
namespace name:
print SOAP::Lite
-> new(....)
-> uri('')
-> call('a:method' => @parameters)
-> result;
This code will generate:
<method xmlns="">....</method>
instead of
<a:method xmlns:a="">....</method>
because later is not allowed according to XML Namespace specifica-
tion.
In all other aspects "->call(mymethod => @parameters)" is just a
synonim for "->mymethod(@parameters)".
self()
Returns object reference to global defaul object specified with
"use SOAP::Lite ..." interface. Both class method and object method
return reference to global object, so:
use SOAP::Lite
proxy => 'http://my.global.server'
;
my $soap = SOAP::Lite->proxy('http://my.local.server');
print $soap->self->proxy;
prints 'http://my.global.server' (the same as
"SOAP::Lite->self->proxy"). See "DEFAULT SETTINGS" for more infor-
mation.
dispatch_from()
Does exactly the same as autodispatch does, but doesn't install
UNIVERSAL::AUTOLOAD handler and only install AUTOLOAD handlers in
specified classes. Can be used only with "use SOAP::Lite ..."
clause and should be specified first:
use SOAP::Lite
dispatch_from => ['A', 'B'], # use "dispatch_from => 'A'" for one class
uri => ....,
proxy => ....,
;
A->a;
B->b;
SOAP::Header
The SOAP::Header class is a subclass of the "SOAP::Data" class. It is
used in the same way as a SOAP::Data object, however SOAP::Lite will
serialize objects of this type into the SOAP Envelope's Header block.
SOAP::Data
You can use this class if you want to specify a value, a name, atype, a
uri or attributes for SOAP elements (use "value()", "name()", "type()",
"uri()" and "attr()" methods correspondingly). For example,
"SOAP::Data->name('abc')->value(123)" will be serialized into
"<abc>123</abc>", as well as will "SOAP::Data->name(abc => 123)". Each
of them (except the value() method) can accept a value as the second
parameter. All methods return the current value if you call them with-
out parameters. The return the object otherwise, so you can stack them.
See tests for more examples. You can import these methods with:
SOAP::Data->import('name');
or
import SOAP::Data 'name';
and then use "name(abc => 123)" for brevity.
An interface for specific attributes is also provided. You can use the
"actor()", "mustUnderstand()", "encodingStyle()" and "root()" methods
to set/get values of the correspondent attributes.
SOAP::Data
->name(c => 3)
->encodingStyle('http://xml.apache.org/xml-soap/literalxml')
will be serialized into:
<c SOAP-ENV:encodingStyle="http://xml.apache.org/xml-soap/literalxml"
xsi:type="xsd:int">3</c>
SOAP::Serializer
Usually you don't need to interact directly with this module. The only
case when you need it, it when using autotyping. This feature lets you
specify types for your data according to your needs as well as to
introduce new data types (like ordered hash for example).
You can specify a type with "SOAP::Data->type(float => 123)". During
the serialization stage the module will try to serialize your data with
the "as_float" method. It then calls the "typecast" method (you can
override it or inherit your own class from "SOAP::Data") and only then
it will try to serialize it according to data type ("SCALAR", "ARRAY"
or "HASH"). For example:
SOAP::Data->type('ordered_hash' => [a => 1, b => 2])
will be serialized as an ordered hash, using the "as_ordered_hash"
method.
If you do not specify a type directly, the serialization module will
try to autodefine the type for you according to the "typelookup" hash.
It contains the type name as key and the following 3-element array as
value:
priority,
check_function (CODE reference),
typecast function (METHOD name or CODE reference)
For example, if you want to add "uriReference" to autodefined types,
you should add something like this:
$s->typelookup->{uriReference} =
[11, sub { $_[0] =~ m!^http://! }, 'as_uriReference'];
and add the "as_uriReference" method to the "SOAP::Serializer" class:
sub SOAP::Serializer::as_uriReference {
my $self = shift;
my($value, $name, $type, $attr) = @_;
return [$name, {'xsi:type' => 'xsd:uriReference', %$attr}, $value];
}
The specified methods will work for both autotyping and direct typing,
so you can use either
SOAP::Data->type(uriReference => 'http://yahoo.com')>
or just
'http://yahoo.com'
and it will be serialized into the same type. For more examples see
"as_*" methods in "SOAP::Serializer".
The SOAP::Serializer provides you with "autotype()", "readable()",
"namespace()", "encodingspace()", "encoding()", "typelookup()",
"uri()", "multirefinplace()" and "envelope()" methods. All methods
(except "envelope()") are described in the "SOAP::Lite" section.
envelope()
This method allows you to build three kind of envelopes depending
on the first parameter:
method
envelope(method => 'methodname', @parameters);
or
method('methodname', @parameters);
Lets you build a request/response envelope.
fault
envelope(fault => 'faultcode', 'faultstring', $details);
or
fault('faultcode', 'faultstring', $details);
Lets you build a fault envelope. Faultcode will be properly
qualified and details could be string or object.
freeform
envelope(freeform => 'something that I want to serialize');
or
freeform('something that I want to serialize');
Reserved for nonRPC calls. Lets you build your own payload
inside a SOAP envelope. All SOAP 1.1 specification rules are
enforced, except method specific ones. See UDDI::Lite as exam-
ple.
register_ns
The register_ns subroutine allows users to register a global
namespace with the SOAP Envelope. The first parameter is the
namespace, the second parameter to this subroutine is an
optional prefix. If a prefix is not provided, one will be gen-
erated automatically for you. All namespaces registered with
the serializer get declared in the <soap:Envelope /> element.
find_prefix
The find_prefix subroutine takes a namespace as a parameter and
returns the assigned prefix to that namespace. This eliminates
the need to declare and redeclare namespaces within an enve-
lope. This subroutine is especially helpful in determining the
proper prefix when assigning a type to a SOAP::Data element. A
good example of how this might be used is as follows:
SOAP::Data->name("foo" => $inputParams{'foo'})
->type($client->serializer->find_prefix('urn:Foo').':Foo');
xmlschema
The xmlschema subroutine tells SOAP::Lite what XML Schema to
use when serializing XML element values. There are two sup-
ported schemas of SOAP::Lite, they are:
http://www.w3.org/1999/XMLSchema, and
http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema (default)
For more examples see tests and SOAP::Transport::HTTP.pm
SOAP::SOM
All calls you are making through object oriented interface will return
SOAP::SOM object, and you can access actual values with it. Next exam-
ple gives you brief overview of the class:
my $soap = SOAP::Lite .....;
my $som = $soap->method(@parameters);
if ($som->fault) { # will be defined if Fault element is in the message
print $som->faultdetail; # returns value of 'detail' element as
# string or object
$som->faultcode; #
$som->faultstring; # also available
$som->faultactor; #
} else {
$som->result; # gives you access to result of call
# it could be any data structure, for example reference
# to array if server didi something like: return [1,2];
$som->paramsout; # gives you access to out parameters if any
# for example, you'll get array (1,2) if
# server returns ([1,2], 1, 2);
# [1,2] will be returned as $som->result
# and $som->paramsall will return ([1,2], 1, 2)
# see section IN/OUT, OUT PARAMETERS AND AUTOBINDING
# for more information
$som->paramsall; # gives access to result AND out parameters (if any)
# and returns them as one array
$som->valueof('//myelement'); # returns value(s) (as perl data) of
# 'myelement' if any. All elements in array
# context and only first one in scalar
$h = $som->headerof('//myheader'); # returns element as SOAP::Header, so
# you can access attributes and values
# with $h->mustUnderstand, $h->actor
# or $h->attr (for all attributes)
}
SOAP::SOM object gives you access to the deserialized envelope via sev-
eral methods. All methods accept a node path (similar to XPath nota-
tions). SOM interprets '/' as the root node, '//' as relative location
path ('//Body' will find all bodies in document, as well as '/Enve-
lope//nums' will find all 'nums' nodes under Envelope node), '[num]' as
node number and '[op num]' with "op" being a comparison operator ('<',
'>', '<=', '>=', '!', '=').
All nodes in nodeset will be returned in document order.
match()
Accepts a path to a node and returns true/false in a boolean con-
text and a SOM object otherwise. "valueof()" and "dataof()" can be
used to get value(s) of matched node(s).
valueof()
Returns the value of a (previously) matched node. It accepts a node
path. In this case, it returns the value of matched node, but does
not change the current node. Suitable when you want to match a
node and then navigate through node children:
$som->match('/Envelope/Body/[1]'); # match method
$som->valueof('[1]'); # result
$som->valueof('[2]'); # first out parameter (if present)
The returned value depends on the context. In a scalar context it
will return the first element from matched nodeset. In an array
context it will return all matched elements.
dataof()
Same as "valueof()", but it returns a "SOAP::Data" object, so you
can get access to the name, the type and attributes of an element.
headerof()
Same as "dataof()", but it returns "SOAP::Header" object, so you
can get access to the name, the type and attributes of an element.
Can be used for modifying headers (if you want to see updated
header inside Header element, it's better to use this method
instead of "dataof()" method).
namespaceuriof()
Returns the uri associated with the matched element. This uri can
also be inherited, for example, if you have
<a xmlns='http://my.namespace'>
<b>
value
</b>
</a>
this method will return same value for 'b' element as for 'a'.
SOAP::SOM also provides methods for direct access to the envelope, the
body, methods and parameters (both in and out). All these methods
return real values (in most cases it will be a hash reference), if
called as object method. Returned values also depend on context: in an
array context it will return an array of values and in scalar context
it will return the first element. So, if you want to access the first
output parameter, you can call "$param = $som->paramsout"; and you will
get it regardless of the actual number of output parameters. If you
call it as class function (for example, SOAP::SOM::method) it returns
an XPath string that matches the current element ('/Envelope/Body/[1]'
in case of 'method'). The method will return "undef" if not present OR
if you try to access an undefined element. To distinguish between these
two cases you can first access the "match()" method that will return
true/false in a boolean context and then get the real value:
if ($som->match('//myparameter')) {
$value = $som->valueof; # can be undef too
} else {
# doesn't exist
}
root()
Returns the value (as hash) of the root element. Do exactly the
same as "$som->valueof('/')" does.
envelope()
Returns the value (as hash) of the "Envelope" element. Keys in this
hash will be 'Header' (if present), 'Body' and any other (optional)
elements. Values will be the deserialized header, body, and ele-
ments, respectively. If called as function ("SOAP::SOM::envelope")
it will return a Xpath string that matches the envelope content.
Useful when you want just match it and then iterate over the con-
tent by yourself. Example:
if ($som->match(SOAP::SOM::envelope)) {
$som->valueof('Header'); # should give access to header if present
$som->valueof('Body'); # should give access to body
} else {
# hm, are we doing SOAP or what?
}
header()
Returns the value (as hash) of the "Header" element. If you want to
access all attributes in the header use:
# get element as SOAP::Data object
$transaction = $som->match(join '/', SOAP::SOM::header, 'transaction')->dataof;
# then you can access all attributes of 'transaction' element
$transaction->attr;
headers()
Returns a node set of values with deserialized headers. The differ-
ence between the "header()" and "headers()" methods is that the
first gives you access to the whole header and second to the head-
ers inside the 'Header' tag:
$som->headerof(join '/', SOAP::SOM::header, '[1]');
# gives you first header as SOAP::Header object
($som->headers)[0];
# gives you value of the first header, same as
$som->valueof(join '/', SOAP::SOM::header, '[1]');
$som->header->{name_of_your_header_here}
# gives you value of name_of_your_header_here
body()
Returns the value (as hash) of the "Body" element.
fault()
Returns the value (as hash) of "Fault" element: "faultcode",
"faultstring" and "detail". If "Fault" element is present,
"result()", "paramsin()", "paramsout()" and "method()" will return
an undef.
faultcode()
Returns the value of the "faultcode" element if present and undef
otherwise.
faultstring()
Returns the value of the "faultstring" element if present and undef
otherwise.
faultactor()
Returns the value of the "faultactor" element if present and undef
otherwise.
faultdetail()
Returns the value of the "detail" element if present and undef oth-
erwise.
method()
Returns the value of the method element (all input parameters if
you call it on a deserialized request envelope, and result/output
parameters if you call it on a deserialized response envelope).
Returns undef if the 'Fault' element is present.
result()
Returns the value of the "result" of the method call. In fact, it
will return the first child element (in document order) of the
method element.
paramsin()
Returns the value(s) of all passed parameters.
paramsout()
Returns value(s) of the output parameters.
paramsall()
Returns value(s) of the result AND output parameters as one array.
parts()
Return an array of MIME::Entities if the current payload contains
attachments, or returns undefined if payload is not MIME multipart.
is_multipart()
Returns true if payload is MIME multipart, false otherwise.
SOAP::Schema
SOAP::Schema gives you ability to load schemas and create stubs accord-
ing to these schemas. Different syntaxes are provided:
o
use SOAP::Lite
service => 'http://www.xmethods.net/sd/StockQuoteService.wsdl',
# service => 'file:/your/local/path/StockQuoteService.wsdl',
# service => 'file:./StockQuoteService.wsdl',
;
print getQuote('MSFT'), "\n";
o
use SOAP::Lite;
print SOAP::Lite
-> service('http://www.xmethods.net/sd/StockQuoteService.wsdl')
-> getQuote('MSFT'), "\n";
o
use SOAP::Lite;
my $service = SOAP::Lite
-> service('http://www.xmethods.net/sd/StockQuoteService.wsdl');
print $service->getQuote('MSFT'), "\n";
You can create stub with stubmaker script:
perl stubmaker.pl http://www.xmethods.net/sd/StockQuoteService.wsdl
and you'll be able to access SOAP services in one line:
perl "-MStockQuoteService qw(:all)" -le "print getQuote('MSFT')"
or dynamically:
perl "-MSOAP::Lite service=>'file:./quote.wsdl'" -le "print getQuote('MSFT')"
Other supported syntaxes with stub(s) are:
o
use StockQuoteService ':all';
print getQuote('MSFT'), "\n";
o
use StockQuoteService;
print StockQuoteService->getQuote('MSFT'), "\n";
o
use StockQuoteService;
my $service = StockQuoteService->new;
print $service->getQuote('MSFT'), "\n";
Support for schemas is limited for now. Though module was tested with
dozen different schemas it won't understand complex objects and will
work only with WSDL.
SOAP::Trace
SOAP::Trace provides you with a trace/debug facility for the SOAP::Lite
library. To activate it you need to specify a list of traceable
events/parts of SOAP::Lite:
use SOAP::Lite +trace =>
[qw(list of available traces here)];
Available events are:
transport -- (client) access to request/response for transport layer
dispatch -- (server) shows full name of dispatched call
result -- (server) result of method call
parameters -- (server) parameters for method call
headers -- (server) headers of received message
objects -- (both) new/DESTROY calls
method -- (both) parameters for '->envelope(method =>' call
fault -- (both) parameters for '->envelope(fault =>' call
freeform -- (both) parameters for '->envelope(freeform =>' call
trace -- (both) trace enters into some important functions
debug -- (both) details about transport
For example:
use SOAP::Lite +trace =>
[qw(method fault)];
lets you output the parameter values for all your fault/normal
envelopes onto STDERR. If you want to log it you can either redirect
STDERR to some file
BEGIN { open(STDERR, '>>....'); }
or (preferably) define your own function for a particular event:
use SOAP::Lite +trace =>
[ method => sub {'log messages here'}, fault => \&log_faults ];
You can share the same function for several events:
use SOAP::Lite +trace =>
[method, fault => \&log_methods_and_faults];
Also you can use 'all' to get all available tracing and use '-' in
front of an event to disable particular event:
use SOAP::Lite +trace =>
[ all, -transport ]; # to get all logging without transport messages
Finally,
use SOAP::Lite +trace;
will switch all debugging on.
You can use 'debug' instead of 'trace'. I prefer 'trace', others
'debug'. Also "on_debug" is available for backward compatibility, as
in
use SOAP::Lite;
my $s = SOAP::Lite
-> uri('http://tempuri.org/')
-> proxy('http://beta.search.microsoft.com/search/MSComSearchService.asmx')
-> on_debug(sub{print@_}) # show you request/response with headers
;
print $s->GetVocabulary(SOAP::Data->name(Query => 'something')->uri('http://tempuri.org/'))
->valueof('//FOUND');
or switch it on individually, with
use SOAP::Lite +trace => debug;
or
use SOAP::Lite +trace => [debug => sub {'do_what_I_want_here'}];
Compare this with:
use SOAP::Lite +trace => transport;
which gives you access to actual request/response objects, so you can
even set/read cookies or do whatever you want there.
The difference between "debug" and "transport" is that "transport" will
get a HTTP::Request/HTTP::Response object and "debug" will get a
stringified request (NOT OBJECT!). It can also be called in other
places too.
SOAP::Transport
Supports the SOAP Transport architecture. All transports must extend
this class.
SOAP::Fault
This class gives you access to Fault generated on server side. To make
a Fault message you might simply die on server side and SOAP processor
will wrap you message as faultstring element and will transfer Fault on
client side. But in some cases you need to have more control over this
process and SOAP::Fault class gives it to you. To use it, simply die
with SOAP::Fault object as a parameter:
die SOAP::Fault->faultcode('Server.Custom') # will be qualified
->faultstring('Died in server method')
->faultdetail(bless {code => 1} => 'BadError')
->faultactor('http://www.soaplite.com/custom');
faultdetail() and faultactor() methods are optional and since faultcode
and faultstring are required to represent fault message SOAP::Lite will
use default values ('Server' and 'Application error') if not specified.
SOAP::Utils
This class gives you access to a number of subroutines to assist in
data formating, encoding, etc. Many of the subroutines are private, and
are not documented here, but a few are made public. They are:
format_datetime
Returns a valid xsd:datetime string given a time object returned by
Perl's localtime function. Usage:
print SOAP::Utils::format_datetime(localtime);
SOAP::Constants
This class gives you access to number of options that may affect behav-
ior of SOAP::Lite objects. They are not true contstants, aren't they?
$PATCH_HTTP_KEEPALIVE
SOAP::Lite's HTTP Transport module attempts to provide a simple
patch to LWP::Protocol to enable HTTP Keep Alive. By default, this
patch is turned off, if however you would like to turn on the
experimental patch change the constant like so:
$SOAP::Constants::PATCH_HTTP_KEEPALIVE = 1;
$DO_NOT_USE_XML_PARSER
By default SOAP::Lite tries to load XML::Parser and if it fails,
then to load XML::Parser::Lite. You may skip the first step and use
XML::Parser::Lite even if XML::Parser is presented in your system
if assign true value like this:
$SOAP::Constants::DO_NOT_USE_XML_PARSER = 1;
$DO_NOT_USE_CHARSET
By default SOAP::Lite specifies charset in content-type. Since not
every toolkit likes it you have an option to switch it off if you
set $DO_NOT_USE_CHARSET to true.
$DO_NOT_CHECK_CONTENT_TYPE
By default SOAP::Lite verifies that content-type in successful
response has value 'multipart/related' or 'multipart/form-data' for
MIME-encoded messages and 'text/xml' for all other ocassions.
SOAP::Lite will raise exception for all other values.
$DO_NOT_CHECK_CONTENT_TYPE when set to true will allow you to
accept those values as valid.
FEATURES AND OPTIONS
DEFAULT SETTINGS
Though this feature looks similar to autodispatch they have (almost)
nothing in common. It lets you create default object and all objects
created after that will be cloned from default object and hence get its
properties. If you want to provide common proxy() or uri() settings for
all SOAP::Lite objects in your application you may do:
use SOAP::Lite
proxy => 'http://localhost/cgi-bin/soap.cgi',
uri => 'http://my.own.com/My/Examples'
;
my $soap1 = new SOAP::Lite; # will get the same proxy()/uri() as above
print $soap1->getStateName(1)->result;
my $soap2 = SOAP::Lite->new; # same thing as above
print $soap2->getStateName(2)->result;
# or you may override any settings you want
my $soap3 = SOAP::Lite->proxy('http://localhost/');
print $soap3->getStateName(1)->result;
Any SOAP::Lite properties can be propagated this way. Changes in object
copies will not affect global settings and you may still change global
settings with "SOAP::Lite->self" call which returns reference to global
object. Provided parameter will update this object and you can even set
it to "undef":
SOAP::Lite->self(undef);
The "use SOAP::Lite" syntax also lets you specify default event han-
dlers for your code. If you have different SOAP objects and want to
share the same "on_action()" (or "on_fault()" for that matter) handler.
You can specify "on_action()" during initialization for every object,
but you may also do:
use SOAP::Lite
on_action => sub {sprintf '%s#%s', @_}
;
and this handler will be the default handler for all your SOAP objects.
You can override it if you specify a handler for a particular object.
See t/*.t for example of on_fault() handler.
Be warned, that since "use ..." is executed at compile time all "use"
statements will be executed before script execution that can make unex-
pected results. Consider code:
use SOAP::Lite proxy => 'http://localhost/';
print SOAP::Lite->getStateName(1)->result;
use SOAP::Lite proxy => 'http://localhost/cgi-bin/soap.cgi';
print SOAP::Lite->getStateName(1)->result;
BOTH SOAP calls will go to 'http://localhost/cgi-bin/soap.cgi'. If you
want to execute "use" at run-time, put it in "eval":
eval "use SOAP::Lite proxy => 'http://localhost/cgi-bin/soap.cgi'; 1" or die;
or use
SOAP::Lite->self->proxy('http://localhost/cgi-bin/soap.cgi');
IN/OUT, OUT PARAMETERS AND AUTOBINDING
SOAP::Lite gives you access to all parameters (both in/out and out) and
also does some additional work for you. Lets consider following exam-
ple:
<mehodResponse>
<res1>name1</res1>
<res2>name2</res2>
<res3>name3</res3>
</mehodResponse>
In that case:
$result = $r->result; # gives you 'name1'
$paramout1 = $r->paramsout; # gives you 'name2', because of scalar context
$paramout1 = ($r->paramsout)[0]; # gives you 'name2' also
$paramout2 = ($r->paramsout)[1]; # gives you 'name3'
or
@paramsout = $r->paramsout; # gives you ARRAY of out parameters
$paramout1 = $paramsout[0]; # gives you 'res2', same as ($r->paramsout)[0]
$paramout2 = $paramsout[1]; # gives you 'res3', same as ($r->paramsout)[1]
Generally, if server returns "return (1,2,3)" you will get 1 as the
result and 2 and 3 as out parameters.
If the server returns "return [1,2,3]" you will get an ARRAY from
"result()" and "undef" from "paramsout()" . Results can be arbitrary
complex: they can be an array of something, they can be objects, they
can be anything and still be returned by "result()" . If only one
parameter is returned, "paramsout()" will return "undef".
But there is more. If you have in your output parameters a parameter
with the same signature (name+type) as in the input parameters this
parameter will be mapped into your input automatically. Example:
server:
sub mymethod {
shift; # object/class reference
my $param1 = shift;
my $param2 = SOAP::Data->name('myparam' => shift() * 2);
return $param1, $param2;
}
client:
$a = 10;
$b = SOAP::Data->name('myparam' => 12);
$result = $soap->mymethod($a, $b);
After that, "$result == 10 and $b->value == 24"! Magic? Sort of. Auto-
binding gives it to you. That will work with objects also with one dif-
ference: you do not need to worry about the name and the type of object
parameter. Consider the "PingPong" example (examples/My/PingPong.pm and
examples/pingpong.pl):
server:
package My::PingPong;
sub new {
my $self = shift;
my $class = ref($self) || $self;
bless {_num=>shift} => $class;
}
sub next {
my $self = shift;
$self->{_num}++;
}
client:
use SOAP::Lite +autodispatch =>
uri => 'urn:',
proxy => 'http://localhost/'
;
my $p = My::PingPong->new(10); # $p->{_num} is 10 now, real object returned
print $p->next, "\n"; # $p->{_num} is 11 now!, object autobinded
AUTODISPATCHING AND SOAP:: PREFIX
WARNING: "autodispatch" feature can have side effects for your applica-
tion and can affect functionality of other modules/libraries because of
overloading UNIVERSAL::AUTOLOAD. All unresolved calls will be dis-
patched as SOAP calls, however it could be not what you want in some
cases. If so, consider using object interface (see "implementation of
OO interface").
SOAP::Lite provides an autodispatching feature that lets you create
code which looks the same for local and remote access.
For example:
use SOAP::Lite +autodispatch =>
uri => 'urn:/My/Examples',
proxy => 'http://localhost/'
;
tells SOAP to 'autodispatch' all calls to the 'http://localhost/' end-
point with the 'urn:/My/Examples' uri. All consequent method calls can
look like:
print getStateName(1), "\n";
print getStateNames(12,24,26,13), "\n";
print getStateList([11,12,13,42])->[0], "\n";
print getStateStruct({item1 => 10, item2 => 4})->{item2}, "\n";
As you can see, there is no SOAP specific coding at all.
The same logic will work for objects as well:
print "Session iterator\n";
my $p = My::SessionIterator->new(10);
print $p->next, "\n";
print $p->next, "\n";
This will access the remote My::SessionIterator module, gets an object,
and then calls remote methods again. The object will be transferred to
the server, the method is executed there and the result (and the modi-
fied object!) will be transferred back to the client.
Autodispatch will work only if you do not have the same method in your
code. For example, if you have "use My::SessionIterator" somewhere in
your code of our previous example, all methods will be resolved locally
and no SOAP calls will be done. If you want to get access to remote
objects/methods even in that case, use "SOAP::" prefix to your methods,
like:
print $p->SOAP::next, "\n";
See "pingpong.pl" for example of a script, that works with the same
object locally and remotely.
"SOAP::" prefix also gives you ability to access methods that have the
same name as methods of SOAP::Lite itself. For example, you want to
call method new() for your class "My::PingPong" through OO interface.
First attempt could be:
my $s = SOAP::Lite
-> uri('http://www.soaplite.com/My/PingPong')
-> proxy('http://localhost/cgi-bin/soap.cgi')
;
my $obj = $s->new(10);
but it won't work, because SOAP::Lite has method new() itself. To pro-
vide a hint, you should use "SOAP::" prefix and call will be dispatched
remotely:
my $obj = $s->SOAP::new(10);
You can mix autodispatch and usual SOAP calls in the same code if you
need it. Keep in mind, that calls with SOAP:: prefix should always be a
method call, so if you want to call functions, use "SOAP->myfunction()"
instead of "SOAP::myfunction()".
Be warned though Perl has very flexible syntax some versions will com-
plain
Bareword "autodispatch" not allowed while "strict subs" in use ...
if you try to put 'autodispatch' and '=>' on separate lines. So, keep
them on the same line, or put 'autodispatch' in quotes:
use SOAP::Lite 'autodispatch' # DON'T use plus in this case
=> ....
;
ACCESSING HEADERS AND ENVELOPE ON SERVER SIDE
SOAP::Lite gives you direct access to all headers and the whole enve-
lope on the server side. Consider the following code from My::Parame-
ters.pm:
sub byname {
my($a, $b, $c) = @{pop->method}{qw(a b c)};
return "a=$a, b=$b, c=$c";
}
You will get this functionality ONLY if you inherit your class from the
SOAP::Server::Parameters class. This should keep existing code working
and provides this feature only when you need it.
Every method on server side will be called as class/object method, so
it will get an object reference or a class name as the first parameter,
then the method parameters, and then an envelope as SOAP::SOM object.
Shortly:
$self [, @parameters] , $envelope
If you have a fixed number of parameters, you can do:
my $self = shift;
my($param1, $param2) = @_;
and ignore the envelope. If you need access to the envelope you can do:
my $envelope = pop;
since the envelope is always the last element in the parameters list.
The "byname()" method "pop->method" will return a hash with parameter
names as hash keys and parameter values as hash values:
my($a, $b, $c) = @{pop->method}{qw(a b c)};
gives you by-name access to your parameters.
SERVICE DEPLOYMENT. STATIC AND DYNAMIC
Let us scrutinize the deployment process. When designing your SOAP
server you can consider two kind of deployment: static and dynamic.
For both, static and dynamic, you should specify "MODULE", "MOD-
ULE::method", "method" or "PATH/" when creating "use"ing the SOAP::Lite
module. The difference between static and dynamic deployment is that in
case of 'dynamic', any module which is not present will be loaded on
demand. See the "SECURITY" section for detailed description.
Example for static deployment:
use SOAP::Transport::HTTP;
use My::Examples; # module is preloaded
SOAP::Transport::HTTP::CGI
# deployed module should be present here or client will get 'access denied'
-> dispatch_to('My::Examples')
-> handle;
Example for dynamic deployment:
use SOAP::Transport::HTTP;
# name is unknown, module will be loaded on demand
SOAP::Transport::HTTP::CGI
# deployed module should be present here or client will get 'access denied'
-> dispatch_to('/Your/Path/To/Deployed/Modules', 'My::Examples')
-> handle;
For static deployment you should specify the MODULE name directly. For
dynamic deployment you can specify the name either directly (in that
case it will be "require"d without any restriction) or indirectly, with
a PATH In that case, the ONLY path that will be available will be the
PATH given to the dispatch_to() method). For information how to handle
this situation see "SECURITY" section.
You should also use static binding when you have several different
classes in one file and want to make them available for SOAP calls.
SUMMARY:
dispatch_to(
# dynamic dispatch that allows access to ALL modules in specified directory
PATH/TO/MODULES
# 1. specifies directory
# -- AND --
# 2. gives access to ALL modules in this directory without limits
# static dispatch that allows access to ALL methods in particular MODULE
MODULE
# 1. gives access to particular module (all available methods)
# PREREQUISITES:
# module should be loaded manually (for example with 'use ...')
# -- OR --
# you can still specify it in PATH/TO/MODULES
# static dispatch that allows access to particular method ONLY
MODULE::method
# same as MODULE, but gives access to ONLY particular method,
# so there is not much sense to use both MODULE and MODULE::method
# for the same MODULE
)
In addition to this SOAP::Lite also supports experimental syntax that
allows you bind specific URL or SOAPAction to CLASS/MODULE or object:
dispatch_with({
URI => MODULE, # 'http://www.soaplite.com/' => 'My::Class',
SOAPAction => MODULE, # 'http://www.soaplite.com/method' => 'Another::Class',
URI => object, # 'http://www.soaplite.com/obj' => My::Class->new,
})
URI is checked before SOAPAction. You may use both "dispatch_to()" and
"dispatch_with()" syntax and "dispatch_with()" has more priority, so
first checked URI, then SOAPAction and only then will be checked "dis-
patch_to()". See t/03-server.t for more information and examples.
SECURITY
Due to security reasons, the current path for perl modules (@INC) will
be disabled once you have chosen dynamic deployment and specified your
own "PATH/". If you want to access other modules in your included
package you have several options:
1 Switch to static linking:
use MODULE;
$server->dispatch_to('MODULE');
It can be useful also when you want to import something specific
from the deployed modules:
use MODULE qw(import_list);
2 Change "use" to "require". The path is unavailable only during the
initialization part, and it is available again during execution.
So, if you do "require" somewhere in your package, it will work.
3 Same thing, but you can do:
eval 'use MODULE qw(import_list)'; die if $@;
4 Assign a @INC directory in your package and then make "use". Don't
forget to put @INC in "BEGIN{}" block or it won't work:
BEGIN { @INC = qw(my_directory); use MODULE }
COMPRESSION
SOAP::Lite provides you option for enabling compression on wire (for
HTTP transport only). Both server and client should support this capa-
bility, but this logic should be absolutely transparent for your appli-
cation.
Compression can be enabled by specifying threshold for compression on
client or server side:
Client
print SOAP::Lite
-> uri('http://localhost/My/Parameters')
-> proxy('http://localhost/', options => {compress_threshold => 10000})
-> echo(1 x 10000)
-> result
;
Server
my $server = SOAP::Transport::HTTP::CGI
-> dispatch_to('My::Parameters')
-> options({compress_threshold => 10000})
-> handle;
For more information see COMPRESSION section in HTTP transport documen-
tation.
OBJECTS-BY-REFERENCE
SOAP::Lite implements an experimental (yet functional) support for
objects-by-reference. You should not see any difference on the client
side when using this. On the server side you should specify the names
of the classes you want to be returned by reference (instead of by
value) in the "objects_by_reference()" method for your server implemen-
tation (see soap.pop3, soap.daemon and Apache.pm).
Garbage collection is done on the server side (not earlier than after
600 seconds of inactivity time), and you can overload the default
behavior with specific functions for any particular class.
Binding does not have any special syntax and is implemented on server
side (see the differences between My::SessionIterator and My::Persis-
tentIterator). On the client side, objects will have same type/class
as before ("My::SessionIterator->new()" will return an object of class
My::SessionIterator). However, this object is just a stub with an
object ID inside.
INTEROPERABILITY
Microsoft's .NET
To use .NET client and SOAP::Lite server
qualify all elements
use fully qualified names for your return values, e.g.:
return SOAP::Data->name('myname')
->type('string')
->uri('http://tempuri.org/')
->value($output);
Use namespace that you specify for URI instead of 'http://tem-
puri.org/'.
In addition see comment about default incoding in .NET Web Ser-
vices below.
To use SOAP::Lite client and .NET server
declare proper soapAction (uri/method) in your call
For example, use "on_action(sub{join '', @_})".
disable charset in content-type
Specify "$SOAP::Constants::DO_NOT_USE_CHARSET = 1" somewhere in
your code after "use SOAP::Lite" if you are getting error:
Server found request content type to be 'text/xml; charset=utf-8',
but expected 'text/xml'
qualify all elements
Any of following actions should work:
use fully qualified name for method parameters
Use "SOAP::Data->name(Query =>
'biztalk')->uri('http://tempuri.org/')" instead of
"SOAP::Data->name('Query' => 'biztalk')".
Example of SOAPsh call (all parameters should be in one
line):
> perl SOAPsh.pl
"http://beta.search.microsoft.com/search/mscomsearchservice.asmx"
"http://tempuri.org/"
"on_action(sub{join '', @_})"
"GetVocabulary(SOAP::Data->name(Query => 'biztalk')->uri('http://tempuri.org/'))"
make method in default namespace
instead of
my @rc = $soap->call(add => @parms)->result;
# -- OR --
my @rc = $soap->add(@parms)->result;
use
my $method = SOAP::Data->name('add')
->attr({xmlns => 'http://tempuri.org/'});
my @rc = $soap->call($method => @parms)->result;
modify .NET server if you are in charge for that
Stefan Pharies <stefanph@microsoft.com>:
SOAP::Lite uses the SOAP encoding (section 5 of the soap
1.1 spec), and the default for .NET Web Services is to use
a literal encoding. So elements in the request are unquali-
fied, but your service expects them to be qualified. .Net
Web Services has a way for you to change the expected mes-
sage format, which should allow you to get your interop
working. At the top of your class in the asmx, add this
attribute (for Beta 1):
[SoapService(Style=SoapServiceStyle.RPC)]
Another source said it might be this attribute (for Beta
2):
[SoapRpcService]
Full Web Service text may look like:
<%@ WebService Language="C#" Class="Test" %>
using System;
using System.Web.Services;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
[SoapService(Style=SoapServiceStyle.RPC)]
public class Test : WebService {
[WebMethod]
public int add(int a, int b) {
return a + b;
}
}
Another example from Kirill Gavrylyuk <kir-
illg@microsoft.com>:
"You can insert [SoapRpcService()] attribute either on your
class or on operation level".
<%@ WebService Language=CS class="DataType.StringTest"%>
namespace DataType {
using System;
using System.Web.Services;
using System.Web.Services.Protocols;
using System.Web.Services.Description;
[SoapRpcService()]
public class StringTest: WebService {
[WebMethod]
[SoapRpcMethod()]
public string RetString(string x) {
return(x);
}
}
}
Example from Yann Christensen <yannc@microsoft.com>:
using System;
using System.Web.Services;
using System.Web.Services.Protocols;
namespace Currency {
[WebService(Namespace="http://www.yourdomain.com/example")]
[SoapRpcService]
public class Exchange {
[WebMethod]
public double getRate(String country, String country2) {
return 122.69;
}
}
}
Thanks to
Petr Janata <petr.janata@i.cz>,
Stefan Pharies <stefanph@microsoft.com>,
Brian Jepson <bjepson@jepstone.net>, and others for description
and examples.
TROUBLESHOOTING
+autodispatch doesn't work in Perl 5.8
There is a bug in Perl 5.8's UNIVERSAL::AUTOLOAD functionality that
prevents the +autodispatch functionality from working properly. The
workaround is to use dispatch_from instead. Where you might nor-
mally do something like this:
use Some::Module;
use SOAP::Lite +autodispatch =>
uri => 'urn:Foo'
proxy => 'http://...';
You would do something like this:
use SOAP::Lite dispatch_from(Some::Module) =>
uri => 'urn:Foo'
proxy => 'http://...';
HTTP transport
See TROUBLESHOOTING section in documentation for HTTP transport.
COM interface
Can't call method "server" on undefined value
Probably you didn't register Lite.dll with 'regsvr32 Lite.dll'
Failed to load PerlCtrl runtime
Probably you have two Perl installations in different places
and ActiveState's Perl isn't the first Perl specified in PATH.
Rename the directory with another Perl (at least during the
DLL's startup) or put ActiveState's Perl on the first place in
PATH.
XML Parsers
SAX parsers
SAX 2.0 has a known bug in org.xml.sax.helpers.ParserAdapter
rejects Namespace prefix used before declaration
(http://www.megginson.com/SAX/index.html).
That means that in some cases SOAP messages created by
SOAP::Lite may not be parsed properly by SAX2/Java parser,
because Envelope element contains namespace declarations and
attributes that depends on this declarations. According to XML
specification order of these attributes is not significant.
SOAP::Lite does NOT have a problem parsing such messages.
Thanks to Steve Alpert (Steve_Alpert@idx.com) for pointing on
it.
PERFORMANCE
Processing of XML encoded fragments
SOAP::Lite is based on XML::Parser which is basically wrapper
around James Clark's expat parser. Expat's behavior for parsing XML
encoded string can affect processing messages that have lot of
encoded entities, like XML fragments, encoded as strings. Providing
low-level details, parser will call char() callback for every por-
tion of processed stream, but individually for every processed
entity or newline. It can lead to lot of calls and additional mem-
ory manager expenses even for small messages. By contrast, XML mes-
sages which are encoded as base64, don't have this problem and dif-
ference in processing time can be significant. For XML encoded
string that has about 20 lines and 30 tags, number of call could be
about 100 instead of one for the same string encoded as base64.
Since it is parser's feature there is NO fix for this behavior (let
me know if you find one), especially because you need to parse mes-
sage you already got (and you cannot control content of this mes-
sage), however, if your are in charge for both ends of processing
you can switch encoding to base64 on sender's side. It will defi-
nitely work with SOAP::Lite and it may work with other tool-
kits/implementations also, but obviously I cannot guarantee that.
If you want to encode specific string as base64, just do
"SOAP::Data->type(base64 => $string)" either on client or on server
side. If you want change behavior for specific instance of
SOAP::Lite, you may subclass "SOAP::Serializer", override
"as_string()" method that is responsible for string encoding (take
a look into "as_base64()") and specify new serializer class for
your SOAP::Lite object with:
my $soap = new SOAP::Lite
serializer => My::Serializer->new,
..... other parameters
or on server side:
my $server = new SOAP::Transport::HTTP::Daemon # or any other server
serializer => My::Serializer->new,
..... other parameters
If you want to change this behavior for all instances of
SOAP::Lite, just substitute "as_string()" method with "as_base64()"
somewhere in your code after "use SOAP::Lite" and before actual
processing/sending:
*SOAP::Serializer::as_string = \&SOAP::Serializer::as_base64;
Be warned that last two methods will affect all strings and convert
them into base64 encoded. It doesn't make any difference for
SOAP::Lite, but it may make a difference for other toolkits.
WEBHOSTING INSTALLATION
As soon as you have telnet access to the box and XML::Parser is already
installed there (or you have Perl 5.6 and can use XML::Parser::Lite)
you may install your own copy of SOAP::Lite even if hosting provider
doesn't want to do it.
Setup "PERL5LIB" environment variable. Depending on your shell it may
look like:
PERL5LIB=/you/home/directory/lib; export PERL5LIB
"lib" here is the name of directory where all libraries will be
installed under your home directory.
Run CPAN module with
perl -MCPAN -e shell
and run three commands from CPAN shell
> o conf make_arg -I~/lib
> o conf make_install_arg -I~/lib
> o conf makepl_arg LIB=~/lib PREFIX=~ INSTALLMAN1DIR=~/man/man1 INSTALLMAN3DIR=~/man/man3
"LIB" will specify directory where all libraries will reside.
"PREFIX" will specify prefix for all directories (like lib, bin, man,
though it doesn't work in all cases for some reason).
"INSTALLMAN1DIR" and "INSTALLMAN3DIR" specify directories for manuals
(if you don't specify them, install will fail because it'll try to set-
up it in default directory and you don't have permissions for that).
Then run:
> install SOAP::Lite
Now in your scripts you need to specify:
use lib '/your/home/directory/lib';
somewhere before 'use SOAP::Lite;'
BUGS AND LIMITATIONS
o No support for multidimensional, partially transmitted and sparse
arrays (however arrays of arrays are supported, as well as any
other data structures, and you can add your own implementation with
SOAP::Data).
o Limited support for WSDL schema.
o XML::Parser::Lite relies on Unicode support in Perl and doesn't do
entity decoding.
o Limited support for mustUnderstand and Actor attributes.
PLATFORMS
MacOS
Information about XML::Parser for MacPerl could be found here:
http://bumppo.net/lists/macperl-modules/1999/07/msg00047.html
Compiled XML::Parser for MacOS could be found here:
http://www.perl.com/CPAN-local/authors/id/A/AS/ASAND-
STRM/XML-Parser-2.27-bin-1-MacOS.tgz
AVAILABILITY
You can download the latest version SOAP::Lite for Unix or SOAP::Lite
for Win32 from the following sources:
* SOAP::Lite Homepage: http://soaplite.com/ * CPAN:
http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=SOAP-Lite * Sourceforge:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/soaplite/
You are welcome to send e-mail to the maintainers of SOAP::Lite with
your with your comments, suggestions, bug reports and complaints.
SEE ALSO
SOAP SOAP/Perl library from Keith Brown ( http://www.develop.com/soap/
) or ( http://search.cpan.org/search?dist=SOAP )
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A lot of thanks to
Tony Hong <thong@xmethods.net>,
Petr Janata <petr.janata@i.cz>,
Murray Nesbitt <murray@ActiveState.com>,
Robert Barta <rho@bigpond.net.au>,
Gisle Aas <gisle@ActiveState.com>,
Carl K. Cunningham <cc@roberts.de>,
Graham Glass <graham-glass@mindspring.com>,
Chris Radcliff <chris@velocigen.com>,
Arun Kumar <u_arunkumar@yahoo.com>,
and many many others
for providing help, feedback, support, patches and comments.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2000-2004 Paul Kulchenko. All rights reserved.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
AUTHORS
Paul Kulchenko (paulclinger@yahoo.com) Byrne Reese (byrne@major-
dojo.com)
perl v5.8.8 2006-08-16 OldDocs::SOAP::Lite(3)