[REBOL] Re: SOAP
From: m:koopmans2:chello:nl at: 13-Jun-2001 6:23
> > Say you have a service that you want to be available on a
> > network to other
> > Rebol processes.
> > And it needs to perform rather well, and you don't want
> > to write all the
> > communication software.
> > You'd use rugby or something like that.
>
> Okay, understood now. So, it's similar to xml-rpc without
> the xml between Rebol client/server.
>
Yes. But... making services is easier than any middleware I know.
> So, I see that Rebol needs SOAP to access 3rd party SOAP
> services, and Rugby needs to provide a SOAP interface to
> allow non-Rebol clients to access Rugby services.
>
Yes again. Note that a SOAP interace for Rugby is probably the
easiest part: you dictate the SOAP interface and hence the types
etc you support. Since Rebol has built-in support for lots of types,
I probably will map them to string and convert them using
Rebols reflexive properties. I may just do that for every type
so I can get the automaed SOAP exposure out quickly.
On the other hand: does REBOL needs to access SOAP objects in
a generic way? There are lots of other ways:
- DLL/SHell interface
- Other TCP protocols
- Custom SOAP requests. You showed us how easy it was!
I think I'll focus on the exposure part for now. I need to find the time
for it, but it is a very useful addition to what I've already got, and I
have
a good idea on how to build it.
> Is there a directory of Rugby services currently available?
> Do we need a wdsl type of descriptor to access these
> services? Or, perhaps, should all Rugby services provide a
> 'help command?
>
Here you need server space. Using Rebols reflexive properties we
can do this easily. A directory/name server will really help distributed
development. I'll see if I can come up with anything.
And a help-services command is always good.
Perhaps I should include these features in the next version.
Thanks,
Maarten
