Hi there,
I'm just learning how to use SOAP. I've deployed a simple "Hello World" web
service on Tomcat using the Apache SOAP toolkit, and I'm trying to create a
simple VB app or ASP page that will consume this service (ie., just call it
and display "Hello World").
The problem is that the MS SOAP toolkit keeps talking about needing the WSDL
file for the service you want to consume. I understand that WSDL files
describe the service being offered, but the Apache toolkit deployment docs
("Writing RPC Services") don't even mention these files at all.
The "Writing RPC Clients" doc only mentions "you can either look at a WSDL
file (or at some other interface definition format) for the service, or
directly at its implementation." But it doesn't say where this WSDL file
comes from! So I'm quite confused.
1) Is WSDL a Microsoft-only thing?
2) How does one generate these files?
3) Are these files always needed when offering a web service via SOAP?
Thanks,
Simon.
