Benefit of using Apache Axis 1.1?

[Pinal N Patel]

Hello Everyone,
I am new to Apache Axis and to Web Service. I would appreciate if you could provide some answers to the below questions?.
1. What is the benefits of using Apache Axis?.
Without using Apache axis, a developer can just create wsdl file(using a wizard..for eg. IBM WSAD Web Service wizard) and register to uddi server for client to access or directly inform client the host where web service is running. But using axis, not only we create wsdl file thru java2wsdl utility, we also create java classes (skeleton class etc) and wsdd files thru wsdl2java and deploy them using AdminClient utility to Axis Engine. Is all this work necessary?. Will I gain any benefits out of this additional steps when the wsdl was already created using java2wsdl file (As far as I know, wsdl file is all user looks for)?.
2. Is there a way for .NET client to access a java web service that has objects(java bean objects) as a parameter/return types?. Is this possible?
3. Last question, Is there a way for java web service to pass a microsoft excel file to any client?.

I appreciate everyone's input and I thank all of you in advance.

Regards,
Pinal Patel

[Balaji Loganathan]

Originally posted by Pinal N Patel:

1. What is the benefits of using Apache Axis?.
Without using Apache axis, a developer can just create wsdl file(using a wizard..for eg. IBM WSAD Web Service wizard) and register to uddi server for client to access or directly inform client the host where web service is running. But using axis, not only we create wsdl file thru java2wsdl utility, we also create java classes (skeleton class etc) and wsdd files thru wsdl2java and deploy them using AdminClient utility to Axis Engine. Is all this work necessary?. Will I gain any benefits out of this additional steps when the wsdl was already created using java2wsdl file (As far as I know, wsdl file is all user looks for)?.
Regards,
Pinal Patel

1.
WSDL can only tell about the format of SOAP Request and SOAP Response. You need an application or plugin to read this SOAP request and reply back with a SOAP Response, Apache Axis is a implementation of SOAP to handle SOAP request & response. More info here http://ws.apache.org/axis/index.html
2.Yes!.. See the examples inside Apache Axis package.
3. Yes and No!. Using SOAP attachments or a Binary file(byte[]), you cal do this see here for more info http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-09-2003/jw-0912-fop_p.html
Please feel free to ask more questions, if you can't understand my reply.

[Pinal N Patel]

Balaji,
First and foremost, thx for your response.
I have one more question, If a Java Webservice uses a hashtable as a return/parameter in a method, Is it possible for .NET to read in its language?.
I appreciate everyone's input.
Regards,
Pinal.

[Howard Kushner]

Hello Pinal,
Allow me to jump in here. The serialization/deserialization process takes care of it because, as it turns out, the body of the SOAP envelope will be text, since it will be expressed in XML. That is the interoperability aspect of Web services that makes it so awesome.
Hope this helps.