How to learn WS*?

[Sagar Kale]

Hi,

I knowf JAX-WS,WSDL,SOAP. But I do not know WS* (WS-Addressing, WS-Coordination, WS-MetadataExchange,WS-Policy,WS-ReliableMessaging,Web Services Security.WS-SecureConversation,WS-SecurityPolicy,WS-Transaction,WS-Trust,WS-Federation)

I read in one of article that Metro supports it.


What is best way to learn it?

Is there any book from which I can learn this?

[Ulf Dittmer]

Most of those you'll probably not need. The exception might be WS-Security, which all major SOAP stacks support (Axis2, Metro, etc.)

If I may plug my own stuff, I've written about using WS-Security with Axis for authentication and encryption. The Rampart module (Axis' implementation of WS-Security) also comes with lots of examples.

[Sagar Kale]

Thanks Ulf

[Sagar Kale]

Actually I want to learn it with Metro JAX-WS.

Is there graphical tool to write policy file?

Is there way to add ws-policy in generated wsdl automatically through some annotation in web service class, so that I will not have to edit wsdl every time I generate it?

[Ivan Krizsan]

Hi!
NetBeans has support for configuring WS-Security through a GUI that results in a WS-Policy additions to a WSDL.
You check some checkboxes and enter some data, so you never need to look at the generated WS-Policy stuff. Works seamlessly with Metro.

If you want to write WS-Policy by hand, which I've heard is a slightly complex task, then you should be able to do that in any XML editor. With the appropriate XML schemas in place, you can get "code completion" as well.

It would be interesting to hear about any good tool you find for this purpose!
Best wishes!

[Sagar Kale]

Hi Ivan,

Thanks,

I did it using netbeans.

[Kai Wähner]

If you want to write WS-Policy by hand, which I've heard is a slightly complex task, then you should be able to do that in any XML editor.

Why should WS-Policy be a complex task? Policy files are easy to create, only a few elements are needed.

Unfortunatelly, there is not much literature available. But the book "Web Service Contract Design and Versioning for SOA" has some very good chapters about WS-Policy - you should buy it if you have to work with WSDL, WS-Policy and so on...


I agree with the following: You will probably not need the other WS-* standards. WS-Policy and WS-Security are sufficient in most use cases...

[Ivan Krizsan]

Hi!
I have to admit, you are right - writing WS-Policy is not complicated. As an exercise, I devised a WS-Policy fragment that enables WS-Reliable Messaging and messaging ordering, with optional use of WS-Addressing. The fragment looks like this:

    <!-- WS-Policy policy enabling WS-Reliable Messaging. --> 
    <ns1:Policy 
        xmlns:ns1="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/09/policy" 
        wsu:Id="CalculatorPortBindingPolicy"> 
        <!-- 
            Standard WS-Policy normal form with one <ExactlyOne> and one <All> element. 
        --> 
        <ns1:ExactlyOne> 
            <ns1:All> 

                <!-- Enable WS-Reliable Messaging. --> 
                <ns3:RMAssertion xmlns:ns3="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/02/rm/policy"/> 

                <!-- Enable WS-Reliable Messaging flow control. --> 
                <ns2:RmFlowControl xmlns:ns2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/net/2005/02/rm/policy"/> 

                <!-- Enable WS-Reliable Messaging message ordering. --> 
                <ns4:Ordered xmlns:ns4="http://sun.com/2006/03/rm"/> 

                <!-- Optionally use WS-Addressing. --> 
                <ns5:UsingAddressing xmlns:ns5="http://www.w3.org/2006/05/addressing/wsdl" ns1:Optional="true"/> 

            </ns1:All> 
        </ns1:ExactlyOne> 
    </ns1:Policy> 

What may be slightly daunting are the different namespaces.
Best wishes!

[Kai Wähner]

What may be slightly daunting are the different namespaces.

Well, if you use the proposed names for the namespaces which are used in the specifications of ws-policy, ws-security and so on, it is much easier to understand and easier to read...

<ns2:RmFlowControl xmlns:ns2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/net/2005/02/rm/policy"/>

You should use standards where available: http://docs.oasis-open.org/ws-rx/wsrmp/200702/wsrmp-1.1-spec-os-01.html
I do not like vendor-dependent namespaces within policies. Of course, if you need detailed policies, you have to use policies from vendors or write your own custom policies.

[Ivan Krizsan]

Kai Wähner wrote:Well, if you use the proposed names for the namespaces which are used in the specifications of ws-policy, ws-security and so on, it is much easier to understand and easier to read...

Thanks!
One learns something every day!