Methods and system for converting WSDL documents into XML schema

• US 9,558,164 B1
• Filed: 01/15/2009
• Issued: 01/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: F5 Networks, Inc. (F5 Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: F5 Networks, Inc. (F5 Incorporated)
• Inventors: Sevrinsky, Richard, Yona, Shlomo
• Primary Examiner(s): Dyer, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US12/354,357
• Time in Patent Office: 2,938 Days
• Field of Search: 715/237, 715/239
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/154 Tree transformation for tree-structured or markup documents, e.g. XSLT, XSL-FO or stylesheets

Abstract

A method and system for use of XML Schema in conjunction with XML Schema aware applications on a SOAP message including a request with a method defined by a WSDL document. A WSDL document is converted offline to XML Schema. A SOAP message containing a request is received. An XML Schema aware operation is performed on the SOAP message based on previously determined XML Schema derived from the WSDL document.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a network traffic management apparatus, a web services description language (WSDL) document, wherein the WSDL document comprises a plurality of namespaces each corresponding to one or more of a plurality of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) actions and is associated with a specified web service;

converting, by the network traffic management apparatus, the WSDL document into a plurality of Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schemas each corresponding to at least one of the namespaces, wherein the XML Schemas are collectively representative of the WSDL document for the specified web service;

subsequently receiving, by the network traffic management apparatus, a request in the form of a SOAP message from a client device to access the specified web service;

determining, by the network traffic management apparatus, when the SOAP message is valid based on a comparison of the SOAP message against one or more of the XML Schemas converted from the WSDL document; and

forwarding, by the network traffic management apparatus, the SOAP message to a web server hosting the specified web service when the determining indicates that the SOAP message is valid.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining further comprises determining when the SOAP message is well formed based on the WSDL document.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining further comprises performing a security check on the SOAP message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the SOAP message comprises a request for a web-based application.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the WSDL document is a composition of a plurality of WSDL files and at least one XML Schema file.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the SOAP message includes a SOAP envelope comprising a header, a body, or SOAP encoding namespaces.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for performing a method, comprising machine executable code which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the processor to perform steps comprising:

receiving a web services description language (WSDL) document, wherein the WSDL document comprises a plurality of namespaces each corresponding to one or more of a plurality of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) actions and is associated with a specified web service;

converting the WSDL document into a plurality of Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schemas each corresponding to at least one of the namespaces, wherein the XML Schemas are collectively representative of the WSDL document for the specified web service;

subsequently receiving a request in the form of a SOAP message from a client device to access the specified web service;

determining when the SOAP message is valid based on a comparison of the SOAP message against one or more of the XML Schemas converted from the WSDL document; and

forwarding the SOAP message to a web server hosting the specified web service when the determining indicates that the SOAP message is valid.

8. The medium of claim 7, wherein the determining further comprises determining when the SOAP message is well formed based on the WSDL document.

9. The medium of claim 7, wherein the determining further comprises performing a security check on the SOAP message.

10. The medium of claim 7, wherein the SOAP message comprises a request for a web-based application.

11. The medium of claim 7, wherein the WSDL document is a composition of a plurality of WSDL files and at least one XML Schema file.

12. The medium of claim 7, wherein the SOAP message includes a SOAP envelope comprising a header, a body, or SOAP encoding namespaces.

13. A network traffic management apparatus comprising a memory comprising programmed instructions stored in the memory and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to be capable of executing the programmed instructions stored in the memory to:

receive a web services description language (WSDL) document, wherein the WSDL document comprises a plurality of namespaces each corresponding to one or more of a plurality of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) actions and is associated with a specified web service;

convert the WSDL document into a plurality of Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schemas each corresponding to at least one of the namespaces, wherein the XML Schemas are collectively representative of the WSDL document for the specified web service;

subsequently receive a request in the form of a SOAP message from a client device to access the specified web service;

determine when the SOAP message is valid based on a comparison of the SOAP message against one or more of the XML Schemas converted from the WSDL document; and

forward the SOAP message to a web server hosting the specified web service when the determining indicates that the SOAP message is valid.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to be capable of executing the programmed instructions stored in the memory to determine when the SOAP message is well formed based on the WSDL document.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to be capable of executing the programmed instructions stored in the memory to perform a security check on the SOAP message.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the SOAP message comprises a request for a web-based application.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the WSDL document is a composition of a plurality of WSDL files and at least one XML Schema file.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the SOAP message includes a SOAP envelope comprising a header, a body, or SOAP encoding namespaces.