World Wide Web Consortium endorses soft SOAP

TIM BERNERS-LEE and the World Wide Web Consortium have recommended developers start using SOAP 1.2 - an Interweb protocol for moving structured information in a distributed environment.

SOAP version 1.2 has been released as a recommendation and includes a messaging framework, adjuncts and a primer.

The W3C XML protocol working group has released the standard today, said Berners-Lee. "Developers who may have hesitated to pick up SOAP 1.2 should take a look," he said.

XML is the preferred format for data, said the W3C, and both senders and receivers need to agree on the applicaiton level transfer protocol for software, for machines and for organisations.

The 1.2 Message Framework includes a processing model, an extensibility framework, the message construct and the protocol binding framework.

The adjuncts include rules for representing remote procedure calls, to encode SOAP messages, and to describe its features and bindings, including one to HTTP 1.1, for moving messages around the Interweb.

Members of the working group examining SOAP 1.2 included AT&T, IBM, Macromedia, Microsoft, and Oracle.

Over 400 technical and editorial problems have been resolved since SOAP 1.1, and it's now in a good position for a final review, the W3C said. µ