SOAP Version 1.

2 Part 2: Adjuncts (Second

Edition)
W3C Recommendation 27 April 2007
Abstract
SOAP Version 1.2 is a lightweight protocol intended for exchanging structured
information in a decentralized, distributed environment. SOAP Version 1.2 Part 2:
Adjuncts defines a set of adjuncts that may be used with SOAP Version 1.2 Part 1:
Messaging Framework. This specification depends on SOAP Version 1.2 Part 1:
Messaging Framework [SOAP Part 1].

Short Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. SOAP Data Model
3. SOAP Encoding
4. SOAP RPC Representation
5. A Convention for Describing Features and Bindings
6. SOAP-Supplied Message Exchange Patterns and Features
7. SOAP HTTP Binding
8. References
A. The application/soap+xml Media Type
B. Mapping Application-Defined Names to XML Names
C. Using W3C XML Schema with SOAP Encoding (Non-Normative)
D. Acknowledgements (Non-Normative)

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
    1.1 Notational Conventions
2. SOAP Data Model
    2.1 Graph Edges
        2.1.1 Edge labels
    2.2 Graph Nodes
        2.2.1 Single and Multi Reference Nodes
    2.3 Values
3. SOAP Encoding
    3.1 Mapping between XML and the SOAP Data Model
        3.1.1 Encoding Graph Edges and Nodes
        3.1.2 Encoding Simple Values
        3.1.3 Encoding Compound Values
        3.1.4 Computing the Type Name Property
            3.1.4.1 itemType Attribute Information Item
        3.1.5 Unique identifiers
            3.1.5.1 id Attribute Information Item
            3.1.5.2 ref Attribute Information Item
            3.1.5.3 Constraints on id and ref Attribute Information Items
        3.1.6 arraySize Attribute Information Item
        3.1.7 nodeType Attribute Information Item
    3.2 Decoding Faults
4. SOAP RPC Representation
    4.1 Use of RPC on the World Wide Web
        4.1.1 Identification of RPC Resources
        4.1.2 Distinguishing Resource Retrievals from other RPCs
    4.2 RPC and SOAP Body
        4.2.1 RPC Invocation
        4.2.2 RPC Response
        4.2.3 SOAP Encoding Restriction
    4.3 RPC and SOAP Header
    4.4 RPC Faults
5. A Convention for Describing Features and Bindings
    5.1 Model and Properties
        5.1.1 Properties
        5.1.2 Property Scope
            5.1.2.1 Message Exchange Context
            5.1.2.2 Environment Context
        5.1.3 Properties and Features
6. SOAP-Supplied Message Exchange Patterns and Features
    6.1 Property Conventions for SOAP Message Exchange Patterns
    6.2 SOAP Request-Response Message Exchange Pattern
        6.2.1 SOAP Feature Name
        6.2.2 Description
        6.2.3 State Machine Description
        6.2.4 Fault Handling
    6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange Pattern
        6.3.1 SOAP Feature Name
        6.3.2 Description
        6.3.3 State Machine Description
        6.3.4 Fault Handling
    6.4 SOAP Web Method Feature
        6.4.1 SOAP Feature Name
        6.4.2 Description
        6.4.3 SOAP Web Method Feature State Machine
    6.5 SOAP Action Feature
        6.5.1 SOAP Feature Name
        6.5.2 Description
        6.5.3 SOAP Action Feature State Machine
7. SOAP HTTP Binding
    7.1 Introduction
        7.1.1 Optionality
        7.1.2 Use of HTTP
        7.1.3 Interoperability with non-SOAP HTTP Implementations
        7.1.4 HTTP Media-Type
    7.2 Binding Name
    7.3 Supported Message Exchange Patterns
    7.4 Supported Features
    7.5 MEP Operation
        7.5.1 Behavior of Requesting SOAP Node
            7.5.1.1 Init
            7.5.1.2 Requesting
            7.5.1.3 Sending+Receiving
            7.5.1.4 Receiving
            7.5.1.5 Success and Fail
        7.5.2 Behavior of Responding SOAP Node
            7.5.2.1 Init
            7.5.2.2 Receiving
            7.5.2.3 Receiving+Sending
            7.5.2.4 Sending
            7.5.2.5 Success and Fail
    7.6 Security Considerations
8. References
    8.1 Normative References
    8.2 Informative References

Appendices
A. The application/soap+xml Media Type
B. Mapping Application-Defined Names to XML Names
    B.1 Rules for Mapping Application-Defined Names to XML Names
    B.2 Examples
C. Using W3C XML Schema with SOAP Encoding (Non-Normative)
    C.1 Validating Using the Minimum Schema
    C.2 Validating Using the SOAP Encoding Schema
    C.3 Validating Using More Specific Schemas
D. Acknowledgements (Non-Normative)
1. Introduction
SOAP Version 1.2 (SOAP) is a lightweight protocol intended for exchange of structured
information in a decentralized, distributed environment. The SOAP specification
consists of three parts. Part 2 (this document) defines a set of adjuncts that MAY be
used with the SOAP messaging framework:

1. The SOAP Data Model represents application-defined data structures and values
as a directed, edge-labeled graph of nodes (see 2. SOAP Data Model).
2. The SOAP Encoding defines a set of rules for encoding instances of data that
conform to the SOAP Data Model for inclusion in SOAP messages (see 3. SOAP
Encoding).
3. The SOAP RPC Representation defines a convention for how to use the SOAP
Data Model for representing RPC calls and responses (see 4. SOAP RPC
Representation).
4. The section for describing features and bindings defines a convention for
describing features and binding in terms of properties and property values (see 5.
A Convention for Describing Features and Bindings).
5. The section on SOAP-Supplied Message Exchange Patterns and Features
defines a request response message exchange pattern and a message
exchange pattern supporting non-SOAP requests for SOAP responses, (see 6.
SOAP-Supplied Message Exchange Patterns and Features).
6. The SOAP Web Method feature defines a feature for control of methods used on
the World Wide Web (see 6.4 SOAP Web Method Feature).
7. The SOAP HTTP Binding defines a binding of SOAP to HTTP (see [RFC 2616])
following the rules of the SOAP Protocol Binding Framework, [SOAP Part 1] (see 7.
SOAP HTTP Binding).

SOAP 1.2 Part 0 [SOAP Part 0] is a non-normative document intended to provide an

easily understandable tutorial on the features of the SOAP Version 1.2 specifications.

SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1] defines the SOAP messaging framework.

Note:

In previous versions of this specification the SOAP name was an acronym. This is no
longer the case.

1.1 Notational Conventions

The keywords "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC 2119].

This specification uses a number of namespace prefixes throughout; they are listed in
Table 1. Note that the choice of any namespace prefix is arbitrary and not semantically
significant (see XML Infoset [XML InfoSet]).

Table 1: Prefixes and Namespaces used in this specification

Prefix Namespace Notes
"http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap- Defined by SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part
env
envelope" 1].
A normative XML Schema [XML Schema
Part 1], [XML Schema Part 2] document for
"http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-
enc the "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-
encoding"
encoding" namespace can be found at
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-encoding.
A normative XML Schema [XML Schema
Part 1], [XML Schema Part 2] document for
rpc "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-rpc" the "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-
rpc" namespace can be found at
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-rpc.
Defined in the W3C XML Schema
xs "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" specification [XML Schema Part 1], [XML
Schema Part 2].
Defined in the W3C XML Schema
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-
xsi specification [XML Schema Part 1], [XML
instance"
Schema Part 2].

Namespace names of the general form "http://example.org/..." and

"http://example.com/..." represent application or context-dependent URIs (see RFC
3986 [RFC 3986]).

This specification uses the Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF) as described in XML
1.0 [XML 1.0].

With the exception of examples and sections explicitly marked as "Non-Normative", all
parts of this specification are normative.

2. SOAP Data Model

The SOAP Data Model represents application-defined data structures and values as a
directed edge-labeled graph of nodes. Components of this graph are described in the
following sections.
The purpose of the SOAP Data Model is to provide a mapping of non-XML based data
to some wire representation. It is important to note that use of the SOAP Data Model,
the accompanying SOAP Encoding (see 3. SOAP Encoding), and/or the SOAP RPC
Representation (see 4. SOAP RPC Representation) is OPTIONAL. Applications which
already model data in XML may not need to use the SOAP Data Model. Due to their
optional nature, it is NOT a requirement to implement the SOAP Data Model, the SOAP
Encoding and/or the SOAP RPC Representation as part of a SOAP node.

2.1 Graph Edges

Edges in the graph are said to originate at a graph node and terminate at a graph node.
An edge that originates at a graph node is known as an outbound edge with respect to
that graph node. An edge that terminates at a graph node is known as an inbound edge
with respect to that graph node. An edge MAY originate and terminate at the same
graph node. An edge MAY have only an originating graph node, that is be outbound
only. An edge MAY have only a terminating graph node, that is be inbound only.

The outbound edges of a given graph node MAY be distinguished by label or by

position. Position is a total order on such edges; thus, if any outbound edges from a
given node are distinguished by position, then all outbound edges from that node are so
distinguished.

2.1.1 Edge labels

An edge label is an XML qualified name. Two edge labels are equal if and only if their
XML expanded names are equal. I.e., both of the following are true:

1. Their local name values are the same.

2. Either of the following is true:
1. Both of their namespace name values are missing.
2. Their namespace name values are both present and are both the same.

See 2.3 Values for uses of edge labels and position to distinguish the members of
encoded values, and XML Schema [XML Schema Part 2] for more information about
comparing XML qualified names.

2.2 Graph Nodes

A graph node has zero or more outbound edges. A graph node that has no outbound
edges has an optional lexical value. All graph nodes have an optional type name of type
xs:QName in the namespace named "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" (see XML
Schema [XML Schema Part 2]).

2.2.1 Single and Multi Reference Nodes

A graph node may be single reference or multi reference. A single reference graph node
has a single inbound edge. A multi reference graph node has multiple inbound edges.

2.3 Values
A simple value is represented as a graph node with a lexical value.

A compound value is represented as a graph node with zero or more outbound edges
as follows:

1. A graph node whose outbound edges are distinguished solely by their labels is
known as a "struct". The outbound edges of a struct MUST be labeled with
distinct names (see 2.1.1 Edge labels).
2. A graph node whose outbound edges are distinguished solely by position is
known as an "array". The outbound edges of an array MUST NOT be labeled.

3. SOAP Encoding
SOAP Encoding provides a means of encoding instances of data that conform to the
data model described in 2. SOAP Data Model. This encoding MAY be used to transmit
data in SOAP header blocks and/or SOAP bodies. Other data models, alternate
encodings of the SOAP Data Model as well as unencoded data MAY also be used in
SOAP messages (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1], SOAP encodingStyle Attribute for
specification of alternative encoding styles and see 4. SOAP RPC Representation for
restrictions on data models and encodings used to represent SOAP Remote Procedure
Calls (RPC)).

The serialization rules defined in this section are identified by the URI
"http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-encoding". SOAP messages using this particular
serialization SHOULD indicate that fact by using the SOAP encodingStyle attribute
information item (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1] SOAP encodingStyle Attribute).

3.1 Mapping between XML and the SOAP Data Model

XML allows very flexible encoding of data. SOAP Encoding defines a narrower set of
rules for encoding the graphs described in 2. SOAP Data Model. This section defines the
encoding at a high level, and the subsequent sub-sections describe the encoding rules
in more detail. The encodings described in this section can be used in conjunction with
the mapping of RPC requests and responses specified in 4. SOAP RPC Representation.

The encodings are described below from the perspective of a de-serializer. In each
case, the presence of an XML serialization is presumed, and the mapping to a
corresponding graph is described.
More than one encoding is typically possible for a given graph. When serializing a graph
for transmission inside a SOAP message, a representation that deserializes to the
identical graph MUST be used; when multiple such representations are possible, any of
them MAY be used. When receiving an encoded SOAP message, all representations
MUST be accepted.

3.1.1 Encoding Graph Edges and Nodes

Each graph edge is encoded as an element information item and each element
information item represents a graph edge. 3.1.3 Encoding Compound Values describes
the relationship between edge labels and the [local name] and [namespace name]
properties of such element information items.

The graph node at which an edge terminates is determined by examination of the

serialized XML as follows:

1. If the element information item representing the edge does not have a ref
attribute information item (see 3.1.5.2 ref Attribute Information Item) among its
attributes then that element information item is said to represent a node in the
graph and the edge terminates at that node. In such cases the element
information item represents both a graph edge and a graph node
2. If the element information item representing the edge does have a ref attribute
information item (see 3.1.5.2 ref Attribute Information Item) among its attributes,
then the value of that attribute information item MUST be identical to the value of
exactly one id attribute information item ( see 3.1.5.1 id Attribute Information
Item) in the same envelope. In this case the edge terminates at the graph node
represented by the element information item on which the id attribute information
item appears. That element information item MUST be in the scope of an
encodingStyle attribute with a value of "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-
encoding" (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1], SOAP encodingStyle Attribute).

All nodes in the graph are encoded as described in 1 above. Additional inbound edges
for multi reference graph nodes are encoded as described in 2 above.

3.1.2 Encoding Simple Values

The lexical value of a graph node representing a simple value is the sequence of
Unicode characters identified by the character information item children of the element
information item representing that node. The element information item representing a
simple value node MAY have among its attributes a 'nodeType' attribute information
item (see 3.1.7 nodeType Attribute Information Item). Note that certain Unicode
characters cannot be represented in XML (see XML 1.0 [XML 1.0]).

3.1.3 Encoding Compound Values

An outbound edge of a graph node is encoded as an element information item child of
the element information item that represents the node (see 3.1.1 Encoding Graph Edges
and Nodes). Particular rules apply depending on what kind of compound value the graph
node represents. These rules are as follows:

1. For a graph edge which is distinguished by label, the [local name] and
[namespace name] properties of the child element information item together
determine the value of the edge label.
2. For a graph edge which is distinguished by position:
o The ordinal position of the graph edge corresponds to the position of the
child element information item relative to its siblings
o The [local name] and [namespace name] properties of the child element
information item are not significant.
3. The element information item representing a compound value node MAY have
among its attributes a nodeType attribute information item (see 3.1.7 nodeType
Attribute Information Item).
4. The following rules apply to the encoding of a graph node that represents an
"array":
o The element information item representing an array node MAY have
among its attributes an itemType attribute information item (see 3.1.4.1
itemType Attribute Information Item).
o The element information item representing an array node MAY have
among its attributes an arraySize attribute information item (see 3.1.6
arraySize Attribute Information Item).
5. If a graph edge does not terminate in a graph node then it can either be omitted
from the serialization or it can be encoded as an element information item with an
xsi:nil attribute information item whose value is "true".

3.1.4 Computing the Type Name Property

The type name property of a graph node is a {namespace name, local name} pair
computed as follows:

1. If the element information item representing the graph node has an xsi:type
attribute information item among its attributes then the type name property of the
graph node is the value of the xsi:type attribute information item.

Note:

This attribute is of type xs:QName (see XML Schema [XML Schema Part 2]);
its value consists of the pair {namespace name, local name}. Neither the
 prefix used to construct the QName nor any information relating to any
definition of the type is considered to be part of the value. The SOAP graph
carries only the qualified name of the type.

2. Otherwise if the parent element information item of the element information item
representing the graph node has an enc:itemType attribute information item (see
3.1.4.1 itemType Attribute Information Item) among its attributes then the type
name property of the graph node is the value of the enc:itemType attribute
information item
3. Otherwise the value of the type name property of the graph node is unspecified.

Note:

These rules define how the type name property of a graph node in a graph is computed
from a serialized encoding. This specification does not mandate validation using any
particular schema language or type system. Nor does it include built in types or provide
any standardized faults to reflect value/type name conflicts.

However, nothing prohibits development of additional specifications to describe the use

of SOAP Encoding with particular schema languages or type systems. Such additional
specifications MAY mandate validation using particular schema language, and MAY
specify faults to be generated if validation fails. Such additional specifications MAY
specify augmentations to the deserialized graph based on information determined from
such a validation. The use by SOAP Encoding of xsi:type is intended to facilitate
integration with the W3C XML Schema language (see C. Using W3C XML Schema with
SOAP Encoding). Other XML based schema languages, data schemas and
programmatic type systems MAY be used but only to the extent that they are
compatible with the serialization described in this specification.

3.1.4.1 itemType Attribute Information Item

The itemType attribute information item has the following Infoset properties:

 A [local name] of itemType .

 A [namespace name] of "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-encoding".
 A [specified] property with a value of "true".

The type of the itemType attribute information item is xs:QName. The value of the
itemType attribute information item is used to compute the type name property (see
3.1.4 Computing the Type Name Property) of members of an array.

3.1.5 Unique identifiers

3.1.5.1 id Attribute Information Item

The id attribute information item has the following Infoset properties:

 A [local name] of id .
 A [namespace name] of "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-encoding".
 A [specified] property with a value of "true".

The type of the id attribute information item is xs:ID. The value of the id attribute
information item is a unique identifier that can be referred to by a ref attribute
information item (see 3.1.5.2 ref Attribute Information Item).

3.1.5.2 ref Attribute Information Item

The ref attribute information item has the following Infoset properties:

 A [local name] of ref .

 A [namespace name] of "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-encoding".
 A [specified] property with a value of "true".

The type of the ref attribute information item is xs:IDREF. The value of the ref attribute
information item is a reference to a unique identifier defined by an id attribute
information item (see 3.1.5.1 id Attribute Information Item).

3.1.5.3 Constraints on id and ref Attribute Information Items

The value of a ref attribute information item MUST also be the value of exactly one id
attribute information item.

A ref attribute information item and an id attribute information item MUST NOT appear
on the same element information item.

3.1.6 arraySize Attribute Information Item

The arraySize attribute information item has the following Infoset properties:

 A [local name] of arraySize .

 A [namespace name] of "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-encoding".

The type of the arraySize attribute information item is enc:arraySize. The value of the
arraySize attribute information item MUST conform to the following EBNF grammar

[1]    arraySizeValue    ::=    ("*" | concreteSize) nextConcreteSize*

[2]    nextConcreteSize    ::=    whitespace concreteSize
[3]    concreteSize    ::=    [0-9]+
[4]    white space    ::=    (#x20 | #x9 | #xD | #xA)+
The arraySize attribute conveys a suggested mapping of a SOAP array to a multi-
dimensional program data structure. The cardinality of the arraySize list represents the
number of dimensions, with individual values providing the extents of the respective
dimensions. When SOAP encoding multidimensional arrays, nodes are selected such
that the last subscript (i.e., the subscript corresponding to the last specified dimension)
varies most rapidly, and so on with the first varying most slowly. An asterisk MAY be
used only in place of the first size to indicate a dimension of unspecified extent;
asterisks MUST NOT appear in other positions in the list. The default value of the
arraySize attribute information item is "*", i.e., a single dimension of unspecified extent.

3.1.7 nodeType Attribute Information Item

The nodeType attribute information item has the following Infoset properties:

 A [local name] of nodeType .

 A [namespace name] of "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-encoding".
 A [specified] property with a value of "true".

The type of the nodeType attribute information item is enc:nodeType.

The value of the nodeType attribute information item MUST, if present, be one of the
strings "simple" or "struct" or "array". The value indicates what kind of a value this node
represents - a simple value, a compound struct value or a compound array value
respectively.

3.2 Decoding Faults

During deserialization a SOAP receiver:

 SHOULD generate an "env:Sender" SOAP fault with a subcode of enc:MissingID

if the message contains a ref attribute information item but no corresponding id
attribute information item (see 3.1.5.3 Constraints on id and ref Attribute
Information Items).
 SHOULD generate an "env:Sender" SOAP fault with a subcode of
enc:DuplicateID if the message contains two or more id attribute information
item that have the same value. (see 3.1.5.3 Constraints on id and ref Attribute
Information Items).
 MAY generate an "env:Sender" SOAP fault with a subcode of enc:UntypedValue
if the type name property of an encoded graph node is unspecified.

4. SOAP RPC Representation

One of the design goals of SOAP is to facilitate the exchange of messages that map
conveniently to definitions and invocations of methods and procedures in commonly
used programming languages. For that purpose, this section defines a uniform
representation of remote procedure call (RPC) requests and responses. It does not
define actual mappings to any particular programming language. The representation is
entirely platform-independent and considerable effort has been made to encourage
usage that is consistent with the Web in general.

As mentioned in section 2. SOAP Data Model, use and implementation of the SOAP
RPC Representation is OPTIONAL.

The SOAP encodingStyle attribute information item (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1]
SOAP encodingStyle Attribute) is used to indicate the encoding style of the RPC
representation. The encoding thus specified MUST support the 2. SOAP Data Model.
The encoding style defined in 3. SOAP Encoding supports such constructs and is
therefore suitable for use with the SOAP RPC Representation.

This SOAP RPC Representation is not predicated on any SOAP protocol binding. When
SOAP is bound to HTTP, an RPC invocation maps naturally to an HTTP request and an
RPC response maps to an HTTP response. (see 7. SOAP HTTP Binding). However, the
SOAP RPC Representation is not limited to the SOAP HTTP Binding.

To invoke an RPC, the following information is needed:

 The address of the target SOAP node.

 A procedure or method name.
 The identities and values of any arguments to be passed to the procedure or
method. Arguments used to identify Web resources SHOULD be distinguished
from those representing data or control information (see 4.1.1 Identification of
RPC Resources.)
 Values for properties as required by any features of the binding to be used. For
example, "GET" or "POST" for the
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-method/Method property of the
6.4 SOAP Web Method Feature.
 Optional header data.

SOAP RPC relies on the protocol binding to provide a mechanism for carrying the URI
of the target SOAP node. For HTTP the request URI indicates the resource against
which the invocation is being made. Other than requiring it to be a valid URI, SOAP
places no restriction on the form of an identifier (see RFC 3986 [RFC 3986] for more
information on URIs). The section 4.1.1 Identification of RPC Resources further
discusses the use of URIs for identifying RPC resources.

The SOAP RPC Representation employs the 6.2 SOAP Request-Response Message
Exchange Pattern and 6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange Pattern. Use of the SOAP
RPC Representation with other MEPs MAY be possible, but is beyond the scope of this
specification.

4.1 Use of RPC on the World Wide Web

The following guidelines SHOULD be followed when deploying SOAP RPC applications
on the World Wide Web.

4.1.1 Identification of RPC Resources

The World Wide Web identifies resources with URIs, but common programming
conventions convey identification information in the arguments to procedures, or in the
names of those procedures. For example, the call:

updateQuantityInStock(PartNumber="123", NewQuantity="200")

suggests that the resource to be updated is the QuantityInStock for PartNumber "123".
Accordingly, when mapping to or from a programming language method or procedure,
any arguments that serve to identify resources (such as the part number above) should
when practical be represented in the URI to which the SOAP message is addressed.
When mapping to or from a programming language method or procedure, the name of
which identifies or qualifies the identification of a resource (such as QuantityInStock
above), such naming or qualification should when practical be represented in the URI to
which the SOAP message is addressed. No standard means of representation of
arguments or method names is provided by this specification.

Note:

Conventions for specific URI encodings of procedure names and arguments, as well as
for controlling the inclusion of such arguments in the SOAP RPC body could be
established in conjunction with the development of Web Service interface description
languages. They could be developed when SOAP is bound to particular programming
languages or could be established on an application- or procedure-specific basis.

4.1.2 Distinguishing Resource Retrievals from other RPCs

The World Wide Web depends on mechanisms that optimize commonly performed
information retrieval tasks. Specifically, protocols such as HTTP [RFC 2616] provide a
GET method which is used to perform safe retrievals, i.e., to perform retrievals that are
idempotent, free of side effects, and for which security considerations do not preclude
the use of cached results or URI-based resource identification.

Certain procedure or method calls represent requests for information retrieval. For
example, the call:

getQuantityInStock(PartNumber="123")
might be used to retrieve the quantity established in the example above.

The following conventions can be employed to implement SOAP retrievals and other
RPCs on the Web:

 The conventions described in 4.1.1 Identification of RPC Resources are used to

identify the resource with a URI.
 In cases where all the arguments have been represented in the URI, no SOAP
header blocks are to be transmitted and the operation is a safe retrieval, the 6.4
SOAP Web Method Feature and the 6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange
Pattern are used. Accordingly, no SOAP envelope is transmitted for the request,
and the http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-method/Method
property is set to "GET". The results of the retrieval are a SOAP RPC response
as described in 4.2.2 RPC Response
 In cases where the operation to be performed is not a retrieval, when SOAP
header blocks are to be transmitted (a digital signature, for example), or when a
retrieval is not safe, the 6.4 SOAP Web Method Feature and the 6.2 SOAP
Request-Response Message Exchange Pattern are used. The request envelope is
encoded as described in 4.2.1 RPC Invocation, and the results are as described
in 4.2.2 RPC Response. The http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-
method/Method property is set to "POST".

The SOAP RPC Representation does not define any other value for the
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-method/Method .

4.2 RPC and SOAP Body

RPC invocations (except for safe retrievals: see 4.1.2 Distinguishing Resource Retrievals
from other RPCs) and responses are both carried in the SOAP Body element (see SOAP
1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1] SOAP Body) using the following representation:

4.2.1 RPC Invocation

An RPC invocation is modeled as follows:

 The invocation is represented by a single struct containing an outbound edge for

each [in] or [in/out] parameter. The struct is named identically to the procedure or
method and the conventions of B. Mapping Application-Defined Names to XML
Names SHOULD be used to represent method names that are not legal XML
names.
 Each outbound edge has a label corresponding to the name of the parameter.
The conventions of B. Mapping Application-Defined Names to XML Names
SHOULD be used to represent parameter names that are not legal XML names.
Applications MAY process invocations with missing parameters but also MAY fail to
process the invocation and return a fault.

4.2.2 RPC Response

An RPC response is modeled as follows:

 The response is represented by a single struct containing an outbound edge for

the return value and each [out] or [in/out] parameter. The name of the struct is
not significant.
 Each parameter is represented by an outbound edge with a label corresponding
to the name of the parameter. The conventions of B. Mapping Application-
Defined Names to XML Names SHOULD be used to represent parameter names
that are not legal XML names.
 A non-void return value is represented as follows:
1. There MUST be an outbound edge with a local name of result and a
namespace name of "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-rpc" which
terminates in a terminal node
2. The type of that terminal node is a xs:QName and its value is the name of
the outbound edge which terminates in the actual return value.

If the return value of the procedure is void then an outbound edge with a local
name of result and a namespace name of "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-
rpc" MUST NOT be present.

 Invocation faults are handled according to the rules in 4.4 RPC Faults. If a
protocol binding adds additional rules for fault expression, those MUST also be
followed.

4.2.3 SOAP Encoding Restriction

When using SOAP encoding (see 3. SOAP Encoding) in conjunction with the RPC
convention described here, the SOAP Body MUST contain only a single child element
information item, that child being the serialized RPC invocation or response struct.

4.3 RPC and SOAP Header

Additional information relevant to the encoding of an RPC invocation but not part of the
formal procedure or method signature MAY be expressed in a SOAP envelope carrying
an RPC invocation or response. Such additional information MUST be expressed as
SOAP header blocks.

4.4 RPC Faults

The SOAP RPC Representation introduces additional SOAP fault subcode values to be
used in conjunction with the fault codes described in SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1]
SOAP Fault Codes.

Errors arising during RPC invocations are reported according to the following rules:

1. A fault with a Value of Code set to "env:Receiver" SHOULD be generated when

the receiver cannot handle the message because of some temporary condition,
e.g. when it is out of memory.

Note:

Throughout this document, the term "Value of Code " is used as a shorthand
for "value of the Value child element information item of the Code element
information item" (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1], SOAP Code Element ).

2. A fault with a Value of Code set to "env:DataEncodingUnknown" SHOULD be

generated when the arguments are encoded in a data encoding unknown to the
receiver.
3. A fault with a Value of Code set to "env:Sender" and a Value of Subcode set to
"rpc:ProcedureNotPresent" MAY be generated when the receiver does not
support the procedure or method specified.

Note:

Throughout this document, the term "Value of Subcode " is used as a

shorthand for "value of the Value child element information item of the
Subcode element information item" (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1],
SOAP Subcode element).

4. A fault with a Value of Code set to "env:Sender" and a Value of Subcode set to
"rpc:BadArguments" MUST be generated when the receiver cannot parse the
arguments or when there is a mismatch in number and/or type of the arguments
between what the receiver expects and what was sent.
5. Other faults arising in an extension or from the application SHOULD be
generated as described in SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1] SOAP Fault Codes.

In all cases the values of the Detail and Reason element information items are
implementation-defined. Details of their use MAY be specified by an external document.

Note:

Senders might receive different faults from those listed above in response to an RPC
invocation if the receiver does not support the (optional) RPC convention described
here.
5. A Convention for Describing Features and Bindings
This section describes a convention describing Features (including MEPs) and Bindings
in terms of properties and property values. The convention is sufficient to describe the
distributed states of Feature and Binding specifications as mandated by the Binding
Framework (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1] SOAP Protocol Binding Framework) and it
is used to describe a Request-Response MEP (see 6.2 SOAP Request-Response
Message Exchange Pattern), a Response MEP (see 6.3 SOAP Response Message
Exchange Pattern), the SOAP Web Method feature (see 6.4 SOAP Web Method Feature)
and the SOAP HTTP Binding (see 7. SOAP HTTP Binding) elsewhere in this document.
Along with the convention itself, an informal model is defined that describes how
properties propagate through a SOAP system. Note that this model is intended to be
illustrative only, and is not meant to imply any constraints on the structure or layering of
any particular SOAP implementation.

5.1 Model and Properties

In general, a SOAP message is the information that one SOAP node wishes to
exchange with another SOAP node according to a particular set of features, including a
MEP. In addition, there may be information essential to exchanging a message that is
not part of the message itself. Such information is sometimes called message metadata.
In the model, the message, any message metadata, and the various information items
that enable features are represented as abstractions called properties.

5.1.1 Properties

Under the convention, properties are represented as follows:

 Properties are named with URIs.

 Where appropriate, property values SHOULD have an XML Schema [XML
Schema Part 1] [XML Schema Part 2] type listed in the specification which
introduces the property.

5.1.2 Property Scope

Properties within a SOAP node differ in terms of their scope and the origins of their
values. As shown in the figure below, we make the distinction between per-message-
exchange properties and more widely scoped properties by assigning them to different
containers called Message Exchange Context and Environment Context respectively.
All properties, regardless of their scope, are shared by a SOAP node and a particular
Binding.
 Figure 1: Model describing properties shared between SOAP and Binding

5.1.2.1 Message Exchange Context

A message exchange context is a collection of properties whose scope is limited to an

instance of a given message exchange pattern. An example of a message exchange
context property is the identifier of the message exchange pattern in use.

5.1.2.2 Environment Context

The Environment Context is a collection of properties whose scope extends beyond an

instance of a given message exchange pattern. Examples of Environment Context
properties are the IP address of the SOAP node or the current date and time.
The values of properties in Environment Context may depend upon local circumstances
(as depicted by the external arrow from Environment Context in the figure above). More
specifically, the properties in the example could be influenced by an operating system
user ID on whose behalf a message exchange is being executed. The mapping of
information in a particular implementation to such properties is outside the scope of the
binding framework although the abstract representation of such information as
properties is not.

5.1.3 Properties and Features

A feature may be expressed through multiple properties and a single property may
enable more than one feature. For example, the properties called User ID and
Password may be used to enable a feature called Authentication. As a second example,
a single property called Message ID could be used to enable one feature called
Transaction and a second feature called Message Correlation.

6. SOAP-Supplied Message Exchange Patterns and

Features
6.1 Property Conventions for SOAP Message Exchange Patterns
Table 2 describes the properties (in accordance with the property naming conventions defined in this
document) that support the description of message exchange patterns (MEPs). Other properties may be
involved in the specification of particular MEPs, but the properties in this table are generally applicable
to all MEPs.

Table 2: Property definitions supporting the description of MEPs

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/ExchangePatte
rnName
Value:The name of the MEP in operation.
Type: xs:anyURI

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Fai
lureReason
Value: A value that denotes a pattern-specific, binding-independent reason
for the failure of a message exchange. Underlying protocol binding
specifications may define properties to convey more binding-specific details
of the failure.
Type: xs:anyURI
 Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Rol
e
Value:The identifier of the pattern-specific role of the local SOAP node
participating in the message exchange.
Type: xs:anyURI

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Sta
te
Value: The identifier of the current state of the message exchange. This
value is managed by the binding instance and may be inspected by other
entities monitoring the progress of the message exchange.
Type: xs:anyURI

6.2 SOAP Request-Response Message Exchange Pattern

This section defines the message exchange pattern (MEP) called "Request-Response".
The description is an abstract presentation of the operation of this MEP. It is not
intended to describe a real implementation or to suggest how a real implementation
should be structured.

6.2.1 SOAP Feature Name

This message exchange pattern is identified by the URI (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP
Part 1] SOAP Features):

 "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/request-response/"

6.2.2 Description

The SOAP Request-Response MEP defines a pattern for the exchange of a SOAP
message acting as a request followed by a message acting as a response. The
response message MAY contain a SOAP envelope, or else the response MUST be a
binding-specific message indicating that the request has been received. In the absence
of failure in the underlying protocol, this MEP consists of exactly two messages.

In the normal operation of a message exchange conforming to the Request-Response

MEP, a request message is first transferred from the requesting SOAP node to the
responding SOAP node. Following the successful processing of the request message
by the responding SOAP node, a response message is transferred from the responding
SOAP node to the requesting SOAP node.

Abnormal operation during a Request-Response message exchange might be caused

by a failure to transfer the request message, a failure at the responding SOAP node to
process the request message, or a failure to transfer the response message. Such
failures might be silent at either or both of the requesting and responding SOAP nodes
involved, or might result in the generation of a SOAP or binding-specific fault (see 6.2.4
Fault Handling). Also, during abnormal operation each SOAP node involved in the
message exchange might differ in its determination of the successful completion of the
message exchange.

The scope of a Request-Response MEP is limited to the exchange of a request

message and a response message between one requesting and one responding SOAP
node. This pattern does not mandate any correlation between multiple requests nor
specific timing for multiple requests. Implementations MAY choose to support multiple
ongoing requests (and associated response processing) at the same time.

6.2.3 State Machine Description

The Request-Response MEP defines a set of properties described in Table 3.

Table 3: Property definitions for Request-Response MEP

Property name: http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessage
Value: An abstract structure that represents the current outbound message in the
message exchange. This abstracts both SOAP Envelope and any other information
structures that are transferred along with the envelope.
Type: Not specified

Property name: http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/InboundMessage

Value: An abstract structure that represents the current inbound message
in the message exchange. This abstracts both SOAP Envelope and any
other information structures that are transferred along with the envelope.
Type: Not specified

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateDestination
Value: The identifier of the immediate destination of an outbound message.
Type: xs:anyURI
 Property name: http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateSender
Value: The identifier of the immediate sender of an inbound message.
Type: xs:anyURI

To initiate a message exchange conforming to the Request-Response MEP, the

requesting SOAP node instantiates a local message exchange context. Table 4 describes
how the context is initialized.

Table 4: Instantiation of a Message Exchange Context for a requesting SOAP node

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/ExchangePatte
rnName
Value: "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/request-response/"

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Fai
lureReason
Value: "None"
Notes: A relative URI whose base URI is the value of the property named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Exc
hangePatternName

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Rol
e
Value: "RequestingSOAPNode"
Notes: A relative URI whose base URI is the value of the property named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Exc
hangePatternName

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Sta
te
Value: "Init"
 Notes: A relative URI whose base URI is the value of the property named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Rol
e

Property name: http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessage

Value: An abstraction of the request message

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateDestination
Value: An identifier (URI) that denotes the responding SOAP node

There may be other properties related to the operation of the message exchange
context instance. Such properties are initialized according to their own feature
specifications.

Once the message exchange context is initialized, control of the context is passed to a
(conforming) local binding instance.

The diagram below shows the logical state transitions at the requesting and responding
SOAP nodes during the lifetime of the message exchange. At each SOAP node, the
local binding instance updates (logically) the value of the
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ ExchangeContext/State property
to reflect the current state of the message exchange. The state names are relative
URIs, relative to a base URI value carried in the
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ ExchangeContext/Role property
of the local message exchange context.
 Figure 2: Request-Response MEP State Transition Diagram.

When the local binding instance at the responding SOAP node starts to receive an
inbound request message, it (logically) instantiates a message exchange context. Table
5 describes the properties that the binding initializes as part of the context's instantiation.

Table 5: Instantiation of Message Exchange Context for an inbound request message at a responding
SOAP node
Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/ExchangePatte
rnName
Value: "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/request-response/"
Notes: Initialized as early as possible during the life cycle of the message exchange.

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Fai
lureReason
Value: "None"
Notes: A relative URI whose base URI is the value of the property named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Exc
hangePatternName
 Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Rol
e
Value: "RespondingSOAPNode"
Notes: A relative URI whose base URI is the value of the property named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Exc
hangePatternName . Initialized as early as possible during the life cycle the
message exchange.

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Sta
te
Value: "Init"
Notes: A relative URI whose base URI is the value of the property named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Rol
e

When the requesting and responding SOAP nodes transition between states, the local
binding instance (logically) updates a number of properties. Table 6 and Table 7 describe
these updates for the requesting and the responding SOAP nodes, respectively.

Table 6: Requesting SOAP Node State Transitions

CurrentState  

Transition Condition: Unconditional

NextState: "Requesting"
"Init"
Action: Initiate transmission of request message abstracted in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessage

"Requesting" Transition Condition: Message transmission

 failure
NextState: "Fail"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramew
ork/ExchangeContext/FailureReason to
"transmissionFailure"

Transition Condition: Start receiving response

message
NextState: "Sending+Receiving"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/Immediate
Sender to denote the sender of the response
message (may differ from the values in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/Immediate
Destination ). Start making an abstraction of the
response message available in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/InboundMe
ssage .

"Sending+Rece Transition Condition: Message exchange failure

iving" NextState: "Fail"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramew
ork/ExchangeContext/FailureReason to
"exchangeFailure"

Transition Condition: Completed sending

request message. Completed receiving response
message.
NextState: "Success"
Action: If a SOAP envelope is received in the
response (I.e., in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/InboundMe
 ssage ), then process it according to the SOAP
processing model.

Table 7: Responding SOAP Node State Transitions

CurrentState  

Transition Condition: Start receiving request message

NextState: "Receiving"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateSender
"Init" denote the sender of the request message (if determinable).
Start making an abstraction of the request message available
in http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/InboundMessage
Pass control of message exchange context to SOAP
processor.

"Receiving" Transition Condition: Message reception failure

NextState: "Fail"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramew
ork/ExchangeContext/FailureReason to
"receptionFailure".

Transition Condition: Start of response message

available in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundM
essage
NextState: "Receiving+Sending"
 Action: Initiate transmission of response
message. If an envelope is provided in abstracted
in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundM
essage then include that in the response message.

Transition Condition: Message exchange failure

NextState: "Fail"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramew
ork/ExchangeContext/FailureReason to
"exchangeFailure".
"Receiving+Se
nding"

Transition Condition: Completed receiving

request message. Completed sending response
message.
NextState: "Success"

Bindings that implement this MEP MAY provide for streaming of SOAP responses. That
is, responding SOAP nodes MAY begin transmission of a SOAP response while a
SOAP request is still being received and processed. When SOAP nodes implement
bindings that support streaming, the following rules apply:

 All the rules in SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1] Binding Framework regarding
streaming of individual SOAP messages MUST be obeyed for both request and
response SOAP messages.
 When using streaming SOAP bindings, requesting SOAP nodes MUST avoid
deadlock by accepting and if necessary processing SOAP response information
while the SOAP request is being transmitted.

Note:

Depending on the implementation used and the size of the messages

involved, this rule MAY require that SOAP applications stream application-
level response processing in parallel with request generation.
  A requesting SOAP node MAY enter the "Fail" state, and thus abort transmission
of the outbound SOAP request, based on information contained in an incoming
streamed SOAP response.

6.2.4 Fault Handling

During the operation of the Request-Response MEP, the participating SOAP nodes may
generate SOAP faults.

If a SOAP fault is generated by the responding SOAP node while it is in the "Receiving"
state, the SOAP fault is made available in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessage and the state machine
transitions to the "Receiving+Sending" state.

This MEP makes no claims about the disposition or handling of SOAP faults generated
by the requesting SOAP node during any processing of the response message that
follows the "Success" state in the requesting SOAP node's state transition table (see
Table 6).

6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange Pattern

This section defines the message exchange pattern (MEP) called "SOAP Response".
The description is an abstract presentation of the operation of this MEP. It is not
intended to describe a real implementation or to suggest how a real implementation
should be structured.

6.3.1 SOAP Feature Name

This message exchange pattern is identified by the URI (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP
Part 1] SOAP Features):

 "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/soap-response/"

6.3.2 Description

The SOAP Response MEP defines a pattern for the exchange of a non-SOAP message
acting as a request followed by a SOAP message acting as a response. In the absence
of failure in the underlying protocol, this MEP consists of exactly two messages, only
one of which is a SOAP message:

 A request transmitted in a binding-specific manner that does not include a SOAP

envelope and hence does not involve any SOAP processing by the receiving
SOAP node.
 A response message which contains a SOAP envelope. The MEP is completed
by the processing of the SOAP envelope following the rules of the SOAP
 processing model (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1], section SOAP Processing
Model).

Abnormal operation during a SOAP Response message exchange might be caused by

a failure to transfer the request message or the response message. Such failures might
be silent at either or both of the requesting and responding SOAP nodes involved, or
might result in the generation of a SOAP or binding-specific fault (see section 6.3.4 Fault
Handling). Also, during abnormal operation each SOAP node involved in the message
exchange might differ in its determination of the successful completion of the message
exchange.

The scope of a SOAP Response MEP is limited to the request for an exchange of a
response message between one requesting and one responding SOAP node. This
pattern does not mandate any correlation between multiple requests nor specific timing
for multiple requests. Implementations MAY choose to support multiple ongoing
requests (and associated response processing) at the same time.

Note:

This MEP cannot be used in conjunction with features expressed as SOAP header
blocks in the request because there is no SOAP envelope in which to carry them.

6.3.3 State Machine Description

The SOAP Response MEP defines a set of properties described in Table 8.

Table 8: Property definitions for SOAP Response MEP

Property Property
Property Name
Description Type
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessage An abstract Not
structure that specified
represents
the current
outbound
message in
the message
exchange.
This abstracts
both SOAP
Envelope
Infoset (which
MAY be null)
and any other
information
structures
 that are
transferred
along with the
envelope.
An abstract
structure that
represents
the current
inbound
message in
the message
exchange.
This abstracts
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/InboundMessage
both SOAP Not
Envelope specified
Infoset (which
MAY be null)
and any other
information
structures
that are
transferred
along with the
envelope.
The identifier
of the
immediate
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateDestination xs:anyURI
destination of
an outbound
message.
The identifier
of the
immediate
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateSender xs:anyURI
sender of an
inbound
message.

To initiate a message exchange conforming to the SOAP Response MEP, the

requesting SOAP node instantiates a local message exchange context. Table 9 describes
how the context is initialized.

Table 9: Instantiation of a Message Exchange Context for a requesting SOAP node

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/ExchangePatte
rnName
Value: "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/soap-response/"

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Fai
lureReason
Value: "None"
Notes: A relative URI that will be resolved against the value of the property
named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Exc
hangePatternName

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Rol
e
Value: "RequestingSOAPNode"
Notes: A relative URI that will be resolved against the value of the property
named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Exc
hangePatternName

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Sta
te
Value: "Init"
Notes: A relative URI whose base URI is the value of the property named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Rol
e

Property name: http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessage

Value: An abstraction of the request message that does not include a
SOAP envelope infoset.

Property name:
 http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateDestination
Value: An identifier (URI) that denotes the responding SOAP node

There may be other properties related to the operation of the message exchange
context instance. Such properties are initialized according to their own feature
specifications.

Once the message exchange context is initialized, control of the context is passed to a
(conforming) local binding instance.

The diagram below shows the logical state transitions at the requesting and responding
SOAP nodes during the lifetime of the message exchange. At each SOAP node, the
local binding instance updates (logically) the value of the
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/State property
to reflect the current state of the message exchange. The state names are relative
URIs, relative to a Base URI value carried in the
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Role property
of the local message exchange context.

Figure 3: SOAP Response MEP State Transition Diagram

When the local binding instance at the responding SOAP node starts to receive an
inbound request message, it (logically) instantiates a message exchange context. Table
10 describes the properties that the binding initializes as part of the context's instantiation.
 Table 10: Instantiation of Message Exchange Context for an inbound request message
Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/ExchangePatte
rnName
Value: "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/soap-response/"
Notes: Initialized as early as possible during the life cycle of the message exchange.

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Fai
lureReason
Value: "None"
Notes: A relative URI that will be resolved against the value of the property
named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Exc
hangePatternName

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Rol
e
Value: "RespondingSOAPNode"
Notes: A relative URI that will be resolved against the value of the property
named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Exc
hangePatternName . Initialized as early as possible during the life cycle the
message exchange.

Property name:
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Sta
te
Value: "Init"
Notes: A relative URI that will be resolved against the value of the property
named
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Rol
e

When the requesting and responding SOAP nodes transition between states, the local
binding instance (logically) updates a number of properties. Table 11 and Table 12
describe these updates for the requesting and the responding SOAP nodes, respectively.
 Table 11: Requesting SOAP Node State Transitions

CurrentState  

Transition Condition: Unconditional

"Init" NextState: "Requesting"
Action: Initiate request

Transition Condition: Message transmission failure

NextState: "Fail"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/
ExchangeContext/FailureReason to
"transmissionFailure"

"Requesti Transition Condition: Start receiving response

ng" message
NextState: "Receiving"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateSend
er to denote the sender of the response message
(may differ from the values in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateDest
ination ). Start making an abstraction of the response
message available in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/InboundMessag
e.

"Receivin Transition Condition: Message exchange failure

g" NextState: "Fail"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/
 ExchangeContext/FailureReason to "exchangeFailure"

Transition Condition: Completed receiving response

message.
NextState: "Success"

Table 12: Responding SOAP Node State Transitions

CurrentState  

Transition Condition: Start receiving request

NextState: "Receiving"
"Init" Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateSender to denote
the sender of the request message (if determinable). Pass control
of message exchange context to SOAP processor.

"Receivin Transition Condition: Message reception failure

g" NextState: "Fail"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/E
xchangeContext/FailureReason to "receptionFailure".

Transition Condition: Start of response message

available in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessag
 e
NextState: "Sending"
Action: Initiate transmission of response message
abstracted in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessag
e.

Transition Condition: Message exchange failure

NextState: "Fail"
Action: Set
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/E
xchangeContext/FailureReason to "exchangeFailure".
"Sending
"

Transition Condition: Completed sending response

message.
NextState: "Success"

6.3.4 Fault Handling

During the operation of the SOAP Response MEP, the participating SOAP nodes may
generate SOAP faults.

If a SOAP fault is generated by the responding SOAP node while it is in the "Receiving"
state, the SOAP fault is made available in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessage and the state machine
transitions to the "Sending" state.

This MEP makes no claims about the disposition or handling of SOAP faults generated
by the requesting SOAP node during any processing of the response message that
follows the "Success" state in the requesting SOAP node's state transition table (see
Table 11).

6.4 SOAP Web Method Feature

This section defines the "SOAP Web Method Feature".
6.4.1 SOAP Feature Name

The SOAP Web Method feature is identified by the URI (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP
Part 1] SOAP Features):

 "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-method/"

6.4.2 Description

Underlying protocols designed for use on the World Wide Web provide for manipulation
of resources using a small set of Web methods such as GET, PUT, POST, and
DELETE. These methods are formally defined in the HTTP specification [RFC 2616], but
other underlying protocols might also support them. Bindings to HTTP or such other
protocols SHOULD use the SOAP Web Method feature to give applications control over
the Web methods to be used when sending a SOAP message.

Bindings supporting this feature SHOULD use the appropriate embodiment of that
method if provided by the underlying protocol; for example, the HTTP binding provided
with this specification represents the "GET" Web method as an HTTP GET request, and
the "POST" method as an HTTP POST request (see 7. SOAP HTTP Binding). Bindings
supporting this feature SHOULD provide to the receiving node indication of the Web
method used for transmission.

The SOAP Web Method feature MAY be implemented by bindings to underlying

transports that have no preferred embodiment of particular Web methods (e.g. do not
distinguish GET from POST). Such bindings SHOULD provide to the receiving node
indication of the Web method used for transmission, but need take no other action in
support of the feature.

6.4.3 SOAP Web Method Feature State Machine

The SOAP Web Method feature defines a single property, which is described in Table
13.

Table 13: Property definition for the SOAP Web Method feature
Property
Property Name Property Description
Type
One of "GET", "POST",
"PUT", "DELETE" (or
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web- others which may Not
method/Method subsequently be added specified
to the repertoire of Web
methods.)
This specification provides for the use of the SOAP Web Method feature in conjunction
with the 6.2 SOAP Request-Response Message Exchange Pattern and 6.3 SOAP Response
Message Exchange Pattern message exchange patterns. This feature MAY be used with
other MEPs if and only if provided for in the specifications of those MEPs.

A node sending a request message MUST provide a value for the

http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-method/Method property. A protocol
binding supporting this feature SHOULD set the value of the
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-method/Method property at the
receiving node to match that provided by the sender; the means of transmission for the
method property is binding-specific.

A responding node SHOULD respond in a manner consistent with the Web method
requested (e.g. a "GET" should result in retrieval of a representation of the identified
resource) or SHOULD fault in an application-specific manner if the Web method cannot
be supported.

Bindings implementing this feature MUST employ a Message Exchange Pattern with
semantics that are compatible with the Web method selected. For example, the SOAP
Response Message Exchange Pattern (see 6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange
Pattern) is compatible with GET.

6.5 SOAP Action Feature

This section defines the "SOAP Action Feature".

6.5.1 SOAP Feature Name

The SOAP Action feature is identified by the URI (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1]
SOAP Features):

 "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/action/"

6.5.2 Description

Many SOAP 1.2 underlying protocol bindings will likely utilize the "application/soap+xml"
media type (described in A. The application/soap+xml Media Type) to transmit XML
serializations of SOAP messages. The media type specifies an optional action
parameter, which can be used to optimize dispatch or routing, among other things. The
Action Feature specifies well-known URIs to indicate support for the action parameter
in bindings which use MIME, and also to refer to value of the parameter itself.

6.5.3 SOAP Action Feature State Machine

The SOAP Action feature defines a single property, which is described in Table 14. The
value of this property MUST be an absolute URI[RFC 3986] and MUST NOT be empty.
 Table 14: Property definition for the SOAP Action feature
Property Name Property Type
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/action/Action xsd:anyURI

If the http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/action/Action property has a value

at a SOAP sender utilizing a binding supporting this feature, the sender MUST use the
property value as the value of the action parameter in the media type designator.

Conversely, if a value arrives in the action parameter of the media type designator at a
SOAP receiver, the receiver MUST make that value available as the value of the
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/action/Action property.

7. SOAP HTTP Binding

7.1 Introduction
The SOAP HTTP Binding provides a binding of SOAP to HTTP. The binding conforms
to the SOAP Protocol Binding Framework (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1] SOAP
Protocol Binding Framework) and supports the message exchange patterns and features
described in 6. SOAP-Supplied Message Exchange Patterns and Features.

7.1.1 Optionality

The SOAP HTTP Binding is optional and SOAP nodes are NOT required to implement
it. A SOAP node that correctly and completely implements the SOAP HTTP Binding
may to be said to "conform to the SOAP 1.2 HTTP Binding."

The SOAP version 1.2 specification does not preclude development of other bindings to
HTTP or bindings to other protocols, but communication with nodes using such other
bindings is not a goal. Note that other bindings of SOAP to HTTP MAY be written to
provide support for SOAP Message exchange patterns other than 6.2 SOAP Request-
Response Message Exchange Pattern or the 6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange
Pattern. Such alternate bindings MAY therefore make use of HTTP features and status
codes not required for this binding.

7.1.2 Use of HTTP

The SOAP HTTP binding defines a base URI according to the rules in HTTP/1.1 [RFC
2616]. I.e., the base URI is the HTTP Request-URI or the value of the HTTP Content-
Location header field.

This binding of SOAP to HTTP is intended to make appropriate use of HTTP as an

application protocol. For example, successful responses are sent with status code 200
or 202, and failures are indicated as 4XX or 5XX. This binding is not intended to fully
exploit the features of HTTP, but rather to use HTTP specifically for the purpose of
communicating with other SOAP nodes implementing the same binding. Therefore, this
HTTP binding for SOAP does not specify the use and/or meaning of all possible HTTP
methods, header fields and status responses. It specifies only those which are pertinent
to the 6.2 SOAP Request-Response Message Exchange Pattern or the 6.3 SOAP Response
Message Exchange Pattern, or which are likely to be introduced by HTTP mechanisms
(such as proxies) acting between the SOAP nodes.

Certain optional features provided by this binding depend on capabilities provided by

HTTP/1.1, for example content negotiation. Implementations SHOULD thus use
HTTP/1.1 [RFC 2616] (or later compatible versions that share the same major version
number). Implementations MAY also be deployed using HTTP/1.0, although in this case
certain optional binding features may not be provided.

Note:

SOAP HTTP Binding implementations need to account for the fact that HTTP/1.0
intermediaries (which may or may not also be SOAP intermediaries) may alter the
representation of SOAP messages, even in situations where both the initial SOAP
sender and ultimate SOAP receiver use HTTP/1.1.

7.1.3 Interoperability with non-SOAP HTTP Implementations

Particularly when used with the 6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange Pattern, the
HTTP messages produced by this binding are likely to be indistinguishable from those
produced by non-SOAP implementations performing similar operations. Accordingly,
some degree of interoperation can be made possible between SOAP nodes and other
HTTP implementations when using this binding. For example, a conventional Web
server (i.e., one not written specifically to conform to this specification) might be used to
respond to SOAP-initiated HTTP GET's with representations of Content-Type
"application/soap+xml". Such interoperation is not a normative feature of this
specification.

Even though HTTP often is used on the well-known TCP port 80, the use of HTTP is not
limited to that port. As a result, it is possible to have a dedicated HTTP server for
handling SOAP processing on a distinct TCP port. Alternatively, it is possible to use a
separate virtual host for dealing with SOAP processing. Such configuration, however, is
a matter of convenience and is not a requirement of this specification (see SOAP 1.2
Part 1 [SOAP Part 1] Binding to Application-Specific Protocols).

7.1.4 HTTP Media-Type

Conforming implementations of this binding:

1. MUST be capable of sending and receiving messages serialized using media

type "application/soap+xml" whose proper use and parameters are described in
A. The application/soap+xml Media Type.
 2. MAY send requests and responses using other media types providing that such
media types provide for at least the transfer of SOAP XML Infoset.
3. MAY, when sending requests, provide an HTTP Accept header field. This header
field:
o SHOULD indicate an ability to accept at minimum "application/soap+xml".

o MAY additionally indicate willingness to accept other media types that

satisfy 2 above.

7.2 Binding Name

This binding is identified by the URI (see SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1] SOAP Protocol
Binding Framework):

 "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindings/HTTP/"

7.3 Supported Message Exchange Patterns

An implementation of the SOAP HTTP Binding MUST support the following message
exchange patterns (MEPs):

 "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/request-response/" (see 6.2 SOAP

Request-Response Message Exchange Pattern)
 "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/soap-response/" (see 6.3 SOAP Response
Message Exchange Pattern)

7.4 Supported Features

An implementation of the SOAP HTTP Binding MUST support the following additional
features:

 "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-method/" (see 6.4 SOAP Web

Method Feature)
 "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/action/" (see 6.5 SOAP Action Feature)

The possible values of http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-method/Method

property are restricted in this HTTP binding according to the MEP in use (as present in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/ExchangePattern
Name ):

Table 15: Possible values of the Web-Method Method property

http://www.w3.org/2003/05/s
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/Ex
oap/features/web-
changeContext/ExchangePatternName
method/Method
"http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/request-
"POST"
response/"
"http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/soap-response/" "GET"

Note:

Other SOAP Version 1.2 bindings to HTTP may permit other combinations of
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/ExchangePatter
nName and http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-method/Method .

7.5 MEP Operation

For binding instances conforming to this specification:

 A SOAP node instantiated at an HTTP client may assume the role (i.e., the
property
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Role ) of
"RequestingSOAPNode".
 A SOAP node instantiated at an HTTP server may assume the role (i.e., the
property
http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Role ) of
"RespondingSOAPNode".

The remainder of this section describes the MEP state machine and its relation to the
HTTP protocol. In the state tables below, the states are defined as values of the
property http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/State
(see 6.2 SOAP Request-Response Message Exchange Pattern and 6.3 SOAP Response
Message Exchange Pattern), and are of type xs:anyURI . For brevity, relative URIs are
used, the base URI being the value of
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/bindingFramework/ExchangeContext/Role .

The message exchange pattern in use is indicated by the HTTP method used in the
request. HTTP GET corresponds to the SOAP-Response MEP, HTTP POST
corresponds to the SOAP Request-Response MEP.

7.5.1 Behavior of Requesting SOAP Node

The overall flow of the behavior of a requesting SOAP node follows a state machine
description consistent with either 6.2 SOAP Request-Response Message Exchange Pattern
or 6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange Pattern (differences are indicated as
necessary.) This binding supports streaming and, as a result, requesting SOAP nodes
MUST avoid deadlock by accepting and if necessary processing SOAP response
information while the SOAP request is being transmitted (see 6.2.3 State Machine
Description). The following subsections describe each state in detail.
7.5.1.1 Init

In the "Init" state, a HTTP request is formulated according to Table 16 and transmission of
the request is initiated.

Table 16: HTTP Request Fields

Field Value
According to the http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-
HTTP
method/Method property. POST and GET are the only values supported by
Method
this binding.
The value of the URI carried in the
Request
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateDestination property of
URI
the message exchange context.
The media type of the request entity body, if present; otherwise, omitted
Content- (see 7.1 Introduction for a description of permissible media types). If the
Type SOAP envelope infoset in the
header field http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessage property is null,
then the Content-Type header field MAY be omitted.
action According to the value of the
parameter http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/action/Action property.
Accept
header field List of media types that are acceptable in response to the request message.
(optional)
Generated in accordance with the rules for the binding-specific expression
Additional
of any optional features in use for this message exchange. For example, a
header
Content-Encoding header field (see HTTP [RFC 2616], section 14.11) may
fields
be used to express an optional compression feature.
SOAP message serialized according to the rules for carrying SOAP
messages in the media type given by the Content-Type header field. Rules
HTTP entity for carrying SOAP messages in media type "application/soap+xml" are
body given in A. The application/soap+xml Media Type. If the SOAP envelope
infoset in the http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessage
property is null, the entity body is omitted

7.5.1.2 Requesting

In the "Requesting" state, sending of the request continues while waiting for the start of
the response message. Table 17 details the transitions that take place when a requesting SOAP
node receives an HTTP status line and response header fields. For some status codes there is a choice of
possible next state. In cases where "Fail" is one of the choices, the transition is dependent on whether a
SOAP message is present in the HTTP response. If a SOAP message is present, the next state is
"Sending+Receiving" or "Receiving", otherwise the next state is "Fail". The choice between
"Sending+Receiving" and "Receiving" depends of the MEP in use: "Sending+Receiving" is the next state
for Request-Response while "Receiving" is the next state for SOAP-Response.

Table 17: HTTP status code dependent transitions

Statu Reason Significance/Action NextState
s phrase
Code
2xx Successful    
200 OK The response message follows in the HTTP "Sending+Receivi
response entity body. Start making an abstraction ng" or "Receiving"
of the response message available in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/InboundMes
sage .
202 OK The request has been accepted, but either (a) no "Receiving"
response envelope is provided or (b) an envelope (which will
representing information related to the request is immediately
provided -- such envelopes SHOULD be processed transition to
using the SOAP Processing model (see SOAP 1.2 "Success")
Part 1 [SOAP Part 1], section SOAP Processing
Model).
301, Redirect The requested resource has moved. In the case of "Init" or "Fail"
302, unsafe HTTP method, like POST or PUT, explicit
307 confirmation is required before proceeding as
follow.
In the case of a safe method, like GET, or if the
redirection has been approved, the HTTP request
SHOULD be retried using the URI carried in the
associated Location header field as the new value
for the
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateD
estination property.
303 See Other The requested resource has moved and the HTTP "Init"
request SHOULD be retried using the URI carried
in the associated Location header field as the new
value for the
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/ImmediateD
estination property. The value of
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-
method/Method is changed to ""GET"", the value of
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMe
ssage is set to "null". [Note: Status code 303 MUST
NOT be sent unless the request SOAP envelope
has been processed according to the SOAP
processing model and the SOAP response is to be
 made available by retrieval from the URI provided
with the 303.]
4xx Client Error    
400 Bad Indicates a problem with the received HTTP "Sending+Receivi
Request request message. ng", "Receiving"
or "Fail"
401 Unauthoriz Indicates that the HTTP request requires "Requesting" or
ed authorization. "Fail"
The message exchange is regarded as having
completed unsuccessfully.
405 Method not Indicates that the peer HTTP server does not "Fail"
allowed support the requested HTTP method at the given
request URI. The message exchange is regarded
as having completed unsuccessfully.
415 Unsupport Indicates that the peer HTTP server does not "Fail"
ed Media support the Content-type used to encode the
Type request message. The message exchange is
regarded as having completed unsuccessfully.
5xx Server    
Error
500 Internal Indicates a server problem or a problem with the "Sending+Receivi
Server received request ng", "Receiving"
Error or "Fail"

Table 17 refers to some but not all of the existing HTTP/1.1 [RFC 2616] status codes. In
addition to these status codes, HTTP provides an open-ended mechanism for
supporting status codes defined by HTTP extensions (see RFC 2817 [RFC 2817] for a
registration mechanism for new status codes). HTTP status codes are divided into
status code classes as described in HTTP [RFC 2616], section 6.1.1. The SOAP HTTP
binding follows the rules of any HTTP application which means that an implementation
of the SOAP HTTP binding must understand the class of any status code, as indicated
by the first digit, and treat any unrecognized response as being equivalent to the x00
status code of that class, with the exception that an unrecognized response must not be
cached.

Note:

There may be elements in the HTTP infrastructure configured to modify HTTP response
entity bodies for 4xx and 5xx status code responses. For example, some HTTP origin
servers have such a feature as a configuration option. This behavior may interfere with
the use of 4xx and 5xx status code responses carrying SOAP fault messages in HTTP
and it is recommended that such behavior be disabled for resources accepting
SOAP/HTTP requests. If the rewriting behavior cannot be disabled, SOAP/HTTP cannot
be used in such configurations.

7.5.1.3 Sending+Receiving

In the "Sending+Receiving" state (6.2 SOAP Request-Response Message Exchange

Pattern only), the transmission of the request message and receiving of the response
message is completed. Only in the case that a status code 200 is received, the
response message is assumed to contain a SOAP envelope serialized according to the
rules for carrying SOAP messages in the media type given in the Content-Type header
field.

The response MAY be of content type other than "application/soap+xml". Such usage is
considered non-normative, and accordingly is not modeled in the state machine.
Interpretation of such responses is at the discretion of the receiver. Similarly, receipt of
any response entity-body with a status code of 202 is not normative. If such an
unexpected response is of type "application/soap+xml", then SOAP processing of that
response is beyond the scope of the specification for this binding.

7.5.1.4 Receiving

In the "Receiving" state (6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange Pattern only), receiving
of the response message is completed. Only in the case of status code 200, the
response message is assumed to contain a SOAP envelope serialized according to the
rules for carrying SOAP messages in the media type given in the Content-Type header
field.

The response MAY be of content type other than "application/soap+xml". Such a result
is particularly likely when a SOAP request sent with a
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/features/web-method/Method of "GET" is directed
(intentionally or otherwise) to a non-SOAP HTTP server. Such usage is considered non-
normative, and accordingly is not modeled in the state machine. Interpretation of such
responses is at the discretion of the receiver. Similarly, receipt of any response entity-
body with a status code of 202 is not normative. If such an unexpected response is of
type "application/soap+xml", then SOAP processing of that response is beyond the
scope of the specification for this binding.

7.5.1.5 Success and Fail

"Success" and "Fail" are the terminal states of the Request-Response and SOAP-
Response MEPs. Control over the message exchange context returns to the local
SOAP node.

If the "success" state has been reached and if a SOAP envelope has been received,
then the local node is a SOAP Receiver as defined in SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1]
section Message Sender and Receiver Concepts, and in particular MUST obey the
requirement of section SOAP Nodes to process the message according to the SOAP
Processing Model (see SOAP Processing Model).

7.5.2 Behavior of Responding SOAP Node

The overall flow of the behavior of a responding SOAP node follows a state machine
description consistent with either 6.2 SOAP Request-Response Message Exchange Pattern
or 6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange Pattern (differences are indicated as
necessary). The following subsections describe each state in detail.

7.5.2.1 Init

In the "Init" state, the binding waits for the start of an inbound request message. Table
18 describes the errors that a responding SOAP node might generate while in the "Init" state. In this
state no SOAP message has been received, therefore the SOAP node cannot generate a SOAP fault.

Table 18: Errors generated in the Init state

Problem with Message HTTP Status HTTP Reason Phrase
Code (informative)
Malformed Request Message 400 Bad request
HTTP Method is neither POST nor 405 Method Not Allowed
GET
Unsupported message encapsulation 415 Unsupported Media
method

7.5.2.2 Receiving

In the "Receiving" state, the binding receives the request and any associated message
and waits for the start of a response message to be available. Table 19 describes the
HTTP response header fields generated by the responding SOAP node. Table 20
describes the HTTP status codes associated with SOAP faults that can be generated by the responding
SOAP node.

Table 19: HTTP Response Headers Fields

Field Value
If a SOAP Envelope response is available in
http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap/mep/OutboundMessage then 200, or set
Status line
according to Table 20 if a SOAP fault was generated. Otherwise, if no such
SOAP envelope is provided, then 202.
Content- If Status line is 200, then the media type of the response body, see 7.1
Type Introduction for a description of permissible media types. If status line is
header field other than 200, then the Content-Type header is not sent.
Additional Generated in accordance with the rules for the binding-specific expression
 of any optional features in use for this message exchange. For example, a
header
Content-Encoding header field (see HTTP [RFC 2616], section 14.11) may
fields
be used to express an optional compression feature.
Only if status line is 200, the SOAP message serialized according to the
HTTP rules for carrying SOAP messages in the media type given by the Content-
Entity Body Type header field. Rules for carrying SOAP messages in
"application/soap+xml" are given in A. The application/soap+xml Media Type.

Table 20: SOAP Fault to HTTP Status Mapping

SOAP Fault HTTP Status Code HTTP Reason Phrase (informative)
env:VersionMismatch 500 Internal server error
env:MustUnderstand 500 Internal server error
env:Sender 400 Bad request
env:Receiver 500 Internal server error
env:DataEncodingUnknown 500 Internal server error

7.5.2.3 Receiving+Sending

In the "Receiving+Sending" state (6.2 SOAP Request-Response Message Exchange

Pattern only) the binding completes receiving of the request message and transmission
of the response message.

7.5.2.4 Sending

In the "Sending" state (6.3 SOAP Response Message Exchange Pattern only) the binding
completes transmission of the response message.

7.5.2.5 Success and Fail

"Success" and "Fail" are the terminal states for the Request-Response and SOAP-
Response MEPs. From the point-of-view of the local node this message exchange has
completed.

7.6 Security Considerations

The SOAP HTTP Binding (see 7. SOAP HTTP Binding) can be considered as an
extension of the HTTP application protocol. As such, all of the security considerations
identified and described in section 15 of the HTTP specification [RFC 2616] apply to the
SOAP HTTP Binding in addition to those described in SOAP 1.2 Part 1 [SOAP Part 1]
Security Considerations. Implementors of the SOAP HTTP Binding should carefully review
this material.
A. The "application/soap+xml" Media Type
The original contents of this section have been superceded by RFC3902[RFC 3902].

B. Mapping Application-Defined Names to XML Names

This appendix details an algorithm for taking an application-defined name, such as the
name of a variable or field in a programming language, and mapping it to the Unicode
characters that are legal in the names of XML elements and attributes as defined in
Namespace in XML [Namespaces in XML]

Hex Digits

[5]    hexDigit    ::=    [0-9A-F]

B.1 Rules for Mapping Application-Defined Names to XML Names

1. An XML Name has two parts: Prefix and LocalPart. Let Prefix be determined per
the rules and constraints specified in Namespaces in XML [Namespaces in XML].
2. Let T be a name in an application, represented as a sequence of characters
encoded in a particular character encoding.
3. Let M be the implementation-defined function for transcoding of the characters
used in the application-defined name to an equivalent string of Unicode
characters.

Note:

Ideally, if this transcoding is from a non-Unicode encoding, it should be both

reversible and Unicode Form C normalizing (that is, combining sequences
will be in the prescribed canonical order). It should be noted that some
transcodings cannot be perfectly reversible and that Normalization Form C
(NFC) normalization may alter the original sequence in a few cases (see
Character Model for the World Wide Web [CharMod]). To ensure that
matching names continue to match after mapping, Unicode sequences
should be normalized using Unicode Normalization Form C.

Note:

This transcoding is explicitly to Unicode scalar values ("code points") and not
to any particular character encoding scheme of Unicode, such as UTF-8 or
UTF-16.

Note:
 Note: Properly formed surrogate pair sequences must be converted to their
respective scalar values ("code points") [That is, the sequence U+D800
U+DC00 should be transcoded to the character U+10000]. If the transcoding
begins with a Unicode encoding, non-conforming (non-shortest form) UTF-8
and UTF-16 sequences must be converted to their respective scalar values.

Note:

The number of characters in T is not necessarily the same as the number of

characters in M, because transcoding may be one-to-many or many-to-one.
The details of transcoding may be implementation-defined. There may be
(very rarely) cases where there is no equivalent Unicode representation for
T; such cases are not covered here.

4. Let C be the sequence of Unicode scalar values (characters) represented by

M(T)
5. Let N be the number of characters in C. Let C1, C2, ..., CN be the characters of C,
in order from most to least significant (logical order).
6. For each i between 1 (one) and N, let Xi be the Unicode character string defined
by the following rules:

Case:

1. If Ci is undefined (that is, some character or sequence of characters as

defined in the application's character sequence T contains no mapping to
Unicode), then Xi is implementation-defined.
2. If i<=N-1 and Ci is "_" (U+005F LOW LINE) and Ci+1 is "x" (U+0078 LATIN
SMALL LETTER X), then let Xi be "_x005F_".
3. If i=1, and N>=3, and C1 is "x" (U+0078 LATIN SMALL LETTER X) or "X"
(U+0058 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER X), and C2 is "m" (U+006D LATIN
SMALL LETTER M) or "M" (U+004D LATIN CAPITAL LETTER M), and C3
is "l" (U+006C LATIN SMALL LETTER L) or "L" (U+004C LATIN CAPITAL
LETTER L) (in other words, a string three letters or longer starting with the
text "xml" or any re-capitalization thereof), then if C1 is "x" (U+0078 LATIN
SMALL LETTER X) then let X1 be "_x0078_"; otherwise, if C1 is "X"
(U+0058 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER X) then let X1 be "_x0058_".
4. If Ci is not a valid XML NCName character (see Namespaces in XML
[Namespaces in XML]) or if i=1 (one) and C1 is not a valid first character of
an XML NCName then:

Let U1, U2, ... , U6 be the six hex digits [PROD: 5] such that Ci is "U+" U1
U2 ... U6 in the Unicode scalar value.

Case:
 1. If U1=0, U2=0, U3=0, and U4=0, then let Xi="_x" U5 U6 "_".

This case implies that Ci is a character in the Basic Multilingual

Plane (Plane 0) of Unicode and can be wholly represented by a
single UTF-16 code point sequence U+U5U6.

2. Otherwise, let Xi be "_x" U1 U2 U3 U4 U5 U6 "_".

5. Otherwise, let Xi be Mi. That is, any character in X that is a valid character
in an XML NCName is simply copied.
7. Let LocalPart be the character string concatenation of X1, X2, ... , XN in order from
most to least significant.
8. Let XML Name be the QName per Namespaces in XML [Namespaces in XML]

B.2 Examples
Hello world -> Hello_x0020_world
Hello_xorld -> Hello_x005F_xorld
Helloworld_ -> Helloworld_

x -> x
xml -> _x0078_ml
-xml -> _x002D_xml
x-ml -> x-ml

Ælfred -> Ælfred

άγνωστος -> άγνωστος
ᜉᜅᜎᜈ -> _x1709__x1705__x170E__x1708_
ᏙᏚᎥ -> _x13D9__x13DA__x13A5_

C. Using W3C XML Schema with SOAP Encoding (Non-

Normative)
As noted in 3.1.4 Computing the Type Name Property SOAP graph nodes are labeled
with type names, but conforming processors are not required to perform validation of
encoded SOAP messages.

These sections describe techniques that can be used when validation with W3C XML
schemas is desired for use by SOAP applications. Any errors or faults resulting from
such validation are beyond those covered by the normative Recommendation; from the
perspective of SOAP, such faults are considered to be application-level failures.

C.1 Validating Using the Minimum Schema

Although W3C XML schemas are conventionally exchanged in the form of schema
documents (see XML Schema [XML Schema Part 1]), the schema Recommendation is
built on an abstract definition of schemas, to which all processors need to conform. The
schema Recommendation provides that all such schemas include definitions for a core
set of built in types, such as integers, dates, and so on (see XML Schema [XML Schema
Part 1], Built-in Simple Type Definition). Thus, it is possible to discuss validation of a
SOAP message against such a minimal schema, which is the one that would result from
providing no additional definitions or declarations (i.e., no schema document) to a
schema processor.

The minimal schema provides that any well formed XML document will validate, except
that where an xsi:type is provided, the type named must be built in, and the
corresponding element must be valid per that type. Thus, validation of a SOAP 1.2
message using a minimal schema approximates the behavior of the built-in types of
SOAP 1.1.

C.2 Validating Using the SOAP Encoding Schema

Validation against the minimal schema (see C.1 Validating Using the Minimum Schema)
will not succeed where encoded graph nodes have multiple inbound edges. This is
because elements representing such graph nodes will carry id attribute information
items which are not legal on elements of type "xs:string", "xs:integer" etc. The SOAP
Encoding of such graphs MAY be validated against the SOAP Encoding schema. In order
for the encoding to validate, edge labels, and hence the [local name] and [namespace
name] properties of the element information items, need to match those defined in the
SOAP Encoding schema. Validation of the encoded graph against the SOAP Encoding
schema would result in the type name property of the nodes in the graph being
assigned the relevant type name.

C.3 Validating Using More Specific Schemas

It may be that schemas could be constructed to describe the encoding of certain
graphs. Validation of the encoded graph against such a schema would result in the type
name property of the graph nodes being assigned the relevant type name. Such a
schema can also supply default or fixed values for one or more of the itemType ,
arraySize or nodeType attribute information items; the values of such defaulted
attributes affect the deserialized graph in the same manner as if the attributes had been
explicitly supplied in the message. Errors or inconsistencies thus introduced (e.g. if the
value of the attribute is erroneous or inappropriate) should be reported as application-
level errors; faults from the "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-encoding" namespace
should be reported only if the normative parts of this specification are violated.