Java EE (Java Enterprise Edition) General Discussion

Hi Folks,

I just wanted to check my understanding of the JAX-RPC specification, what it actually defines and how it relates to other specs such as SAAJ and tooling such as Axis.

So, any comments on my thoughts below would be great.

JAX-RPC - I think it�s a bit of an unfortunate name as in my view it doesn�t just imply RPC based web-services right? I mean, if you know you don't need RPC based services (request/response) becuase you'll use document based services, you can't just dismiss JAX-RPC as a spec right? and this is because it defines;

� WSDL/XML to Java Mapping
� Java to WSDL/XML Mapping
� Client API (classes generated from WSDL, static / dynamic proxy / DII call Interface)
� SOAP Message Handler (not entirely clear if this is really done by SAAJ)
� Extensible Type Mapping

As a specification, it�s implemented by;

� Sun�s RI (with the WSDP)

I'm assuming this is the case for these too?

� Axis
� IBM Web Services Tools

Is that correct, Axis *implements* the spec? other features (for example, better support for document based services in say Axis2) are just extensions?

Its relationship with SAAJ is that it uses it?

I find it a bit confusing when Axis and others talk about SOAP engines and I'm trying to figure out that if you use Axis if you're really using JAX-RPC...

Thanks in advance,
Toby