8.6

SOAP Client plugin
SOAP Client plugin tasks can be used as input, output and action tasks, although their basic
function is to generate output. SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a light protocol that
defines a standard XML format used to communicate among systems across different
architectures, languages, and operating systems.
A SOAP request is an XML-based Remote Procedure Call (RPC) sent using the HTTP
transport protocol. The payload of the SOAP packet is an XML document that specifies the call
being made and the parameters being passed.
Web services, a SOAP class of applications, expose their services via the Internet in a manner
that lets other applications access them, as well as use and combine them as required.
In order to access and successfully use Web services, client applications must know how to get
them, what operations they support, what parameters they expect, as well as what they return.
SOAP servers make this information available via WSDL (Web Service Description Language)
files.
To configure a given SOAP Client plugin task in the PlanetPress Workflow Configuration
program, you must first get its WSDL file (note that you cannot download the WSDL file over an
HTTPS connection, so you should use an HTTP connection to get the file and then switch back
to a secure connection). This lets you know which services the SOAP server provides, as well
as each service’s methods and name spaces.
If firewalls control communication between the SOAP client and the Web servers, they must be
configured so as not to block client-server communication.
In the case of "string" type data, SOAP Client plugin tasks normalize all line endings to a
single line feed character.
Properties
General tab
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WSDL address: Enter the URL address of the WSDL file, or choose a previously
selected address from the drop-down list.
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