Definition
SOAP [1] is an application-level protocol standard used to transport messages in distributed systems. The standard was defined and is maintained by the XML Protocol Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium. SOAP is commonly used in the context of Web services. SOAP messages are encoded using XML and intended to carry XML encoded application data.
Key Points
SOAP provides a standard to separate infrastructure related data from application data for XML based messages. SOAP messages are known as “envelopes,” which contain both a header, for infrastructure data, and a body for application data. The infrastructure which handles messages for applications is referred to as a “SOAP node.” This role is commonly filled by some middleware platform. The SOAP protocol dictates the rules for the proper processing of messages by nodes on behalf of applications; this includes processing of header information and handling of faults.
The header processing rules are designed to make it...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Recommended Reading
SOAP Version 1.2, Part 1: Messaging Framework (2nd edn.). W3C Recommendation. http://www.w3.org/TR/soap12-part1/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Wohlstadter, E. (2009). SOAP. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_1189
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_1189
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-35544-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-39940-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceReference Module Computer Science and Engineering