Tutorial - Example of a SOAP message (Web Services)

soap.xml

  <!-- SOAP = Simple Object Access Protocol -->
  <!-- SOAP is a simple XML-based protocol to let applications exchange information over HTTP -->
  <!-- SOAP is a protocol for accessing a Web Service -->


<?xml version="1.0"?>

  <!-- SOAP envelope element mandatory with the exact namespace as shown -->
  <!-- The encodingStyle attribute is used to define the data types used in the document -->

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-envelope"
soap:encodingStyle="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-encoding">

  <!-- Header element is optional, contains application-specific information -->

  <!-- SOAP defines three attributes in the default namespace: mustUnderstand, actor, and encodingStyle -->

  <!-- mustUnderstand="1" = the receiver processing the Header must recognize the element or else it will fail -->

  <!-- A SOAP message may travel from a sender to a receiver by passing different endpoints -->
  <!-- However, not all parts of a SOAP message may be intended for the ultimate endpoint.. -->
  <!-- ..but for one or more of the endpoints on the message path.-->
  <!--  SOAP actor attribute is used to address the Header element to a specific endpoint -->

  <!-- encodingStyle attribute is used to define the data types used in the document as mentioned above -->



<soap:Header>
  <m:Trans xmlns:m="http://www.w3schools.com/transaction/"
  soap:mustUnderstand="1" soap:actor="http://www.w3schools.com/appml/">234
  </m:Trans>
</soap:Header>

  <!-- SOAP Body element contains the actual SOAP message -->
  <!-- The example below requests the price of apples -->
  <!-- m:GetPrice and the Item elements above are application-specific elements-->
  <!-- They are not a part of the SOAP namespace -->

<soap:Body>
  <m:GetPrice xmlns:m="http://www.w3schools.com/prices">
    <m:Item>Apples</m:Item>
  </m:GetPrice>

  
  <!-- The optional SOAP Fault element is used to indicate error messages -->
  <!-- Fault sub elements and fault codes here: http://www.w3schools.com/soap/soap_fault.asp -->

  <soap:Fault>
  ...
  </soap:Fault>
</soap:Body>

  


</soap:Envelope>

SOAPrequest.xml

POST /InStock HTTP/1.1
Host: www.example.org
Content-Type: application/soap+xml; charset=utf-8
Content-Length: nnn

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<soap:Envelope
xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-envelope"
soap:encodingStyle="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-encoding">

<soap:Body xmlns:m="http://www.example.org/stock">
  <m:GetStockPrice>
    <m:StockName>IBM</m:StockName>
  </m:GetStockPrice>
</soap:Body>

</soap:Envelope>

SOAPresponse.xml

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/soap+xml; charset=utf-8
Content-Length: nnn

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<soap:Envelope
xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-envelope"
soap:encodingStyle="http://www.w3.org/2001/12/soap-encoding">

<soap:Body xmlns:m="http://www.example.org/stock">
  <m:GetStockPriceResponse>
    <m:Price>34.5</m:Price>
  </m:GetStockPriceResponse>
</soap:Body>

</soap:Envelope>