Systems, methods and computer programs for implementing and accessing web services

• US 20030229665A1
• Filed: 10/31/2002
• Published: 12/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Ryman, Arthur G.
• Granted Patent: US 7,587,447 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A method of responding to a request from a client to a Web service is disclosed. The method includes the steps of: a) processing the request to identify a resource file and a requested action, wherein the request is encoded in one of a plurality of protocols; b) accessing the resource file which includes data describing the Web service; c) processing the request using at least a portion of the data to produce a response; and d) returning a response to the client. A computer system is also disclosed. The computer system includes a client adapted to send a request to a Web service, and a middleware which receives the request from the client. The computer system also includes a resource file accessible to the middleware. The resource file includes data describing the Web service. The middleware identifies the resource file and requested action from the request, which is encoded in one of a plurality of protocols.

Claims

1. A method of responding to a request from a client to a Web service, the method comprising:

a) processing the request to identify a resource file and a requested action, wherein the request is encoded in one of a plurality of protocols;

b) accessing the resource file, the resource file including data describing the Web service;

c) processing the request using at least a portion of the data to produce a response; and

d) returning the response to the client.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is a HTTP request.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the request is one of a HTTP GET request and a HTTP POST request.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the requested action is one of generating a test page, generating XSD, and generating a description of the Web service.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the request is a SOAP request.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the requested action is an operation to be performed by the Web service.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a URL, the URL including a location for the resource file and the requested action.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein step (a) further comprises parsing the URL to identify the resource file and the requested action.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) further comprises determining whether the resource file has been loaded.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein if the resource file is not loaded, step (b) further comprises loading the resource file at runtime.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein if the resource file is loaded, step (b) further comprises comparing a loaded version of the resource file with a stored version of the resource file to determine if the loaded version is identical to the stored version.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein if the loaded version is different from the stored version, step (b) further comprises reloading the stored version of the resource file.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein step (b) is performed at runtime.

14. The method of claim 4, wherein the response is a test page in HTML.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein the response is a description of the Web service at least partially based on the request.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the service description is a WSDL file.

17. The method of claim 4, wherein the response is Extensible Markup Language Schema Description (XSD) at least partially based on the client request.

18. The method of claim 6, wherein step (c) further comprises creating an instance of the Web Service from the data, wherein the instance executes the operation to produce the response.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) includes creating the resource file based at least partially on information describing the Web service.

20. A computer readable medium including a computer program that causes a computer to respond to a request from a client to a Web service, the computer program causing the computer to perform the steps of:

a) processing the request to identify a resource file and a requested action, wherein the request is encoded in one of a plurality of protocols;

b) accessing the resource file, the resource file including data describing the Web service;

c) processing the request using at least a portion of the data to produce a response; and

d) returning the response to the client.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the request is a HTTP request.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the request is one of a HTTP GET and a HTTP POST request.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the requested action is one of generating a test page, generating XSD, and generating a description of the Web service.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the request is a SOAP request.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the requested action is an operation to be performed by the Web service.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the request comprises a URL, the URL including a location for the resource file and the requested action.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein step (a) further comprises parsing the URL to identify the resource file and the requested action.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein step (b) further comprises determining whether the resource file has been loaded.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein if the resource file is not loaded, step (b) further comprises loading the resource file at runtime.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein if the resource file is loaded, step (b) further comprises comparing a loaded version of the resource file with a stored version of the resource file to determine if the loaded version is identical to the stored version.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 30, wherein if the loaded version is different from the stored version, step (b) further comprises reloading the stored version of the resource file.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein step (b) is performed at runtime.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the response is a test page in HTML.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the response is a description of the Web service at least partially based on the request.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 34, wherein the service description is a WSDL file.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the response is Extensible Markup Language Schema Description (XSD) at least partially based on the client request.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein step (c) further comprises creating an instance of the Web service from the data, wherein the instance executes the operation to produce the response.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein step (a) includes creating the resource file based at least partially on information describing the Web service.

39. A computer system comprising:

a) a client adapted to send a request to a Web service;

b) a middleware adapted to receive the request from the client; and

c) a resource file accessible to the middleware, the resource file including data describing the Web service;

wherein the middleware is adapted to identify the resource file and a requested action from the request, the request being encoded in one of a plurality of protocols.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the request is selected from the group comprising a SOAP request, a HTTP GET request, and a HTTP POST request.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the middleware is adapted to create an instance of the Web service from the data, wherein the instance of the Web Service is adapted to execute the request.

42. The system of claim 40, wherein the middleware comprises a router servlet adapted to receive the request, the router servlet adapted locate and load the resource file from information in the request.

43. The system of claim 40, wherein is the middleware is adapted to generate a response at least partially based on the request, the response being selected from the group comprising an operation, extensible markup language schema data (XSD), test page generation, and a description of the Web service in a WSDL file.

44. The system of claim 39, wherein the middleware further comprises a service invoker, the service invoker adapted to determine the type of request.

45. The system of claim 40, wherein the middleware comprises an Apache SOAP server, the Apache SOAP server being adapted to process the SOAP request.