WSDL is an XML format for describing network services as a set
of endpoints operating on messages containing either
document-oriented or procedure-oriented information. WSDL
Version 1.2 Bindings describes how to use WSDL in conjunction
with SOAP 1.2
This is a
This document has been produced as part of the
This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use W3C Working Drafts as reference material or to cite them as other than "work in progress". This is work in progress and does not imply endorsement by, or the consensus of, either W3C or members of the Web Services Description Working Group.
For a detailed list of changes since the last publication of this
document, refer to appendix
Comments on this document are invited and are to be sent to
Patent disclosures relevant to this specification may be found on
the Working Group's
A list of
Last Modified: $Date: 2003/06/10 12:21:41 $ CET
The Web Services Description Language WSDL Version 1.2 (WSDL)
SOAP Version 1.2
HTTP/1.1 GET/POST
MIME
WSDL 1.2 Primer
The Core Language
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 RFC2119
This specification uses a number of namespace prefixes throughout; they
are listed in
| Prefix | Namespace | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| wsdl | A normative XML Schema |
|
| soap |
|
A normative XML Schema |
| http |
|
A normative XML Schema |
| mime |
|
A normative XML Schema |
| xsd |
|
Defined in the W3C XML Schema
specification |
| xsi |
|
Defined in the W3C XML Schema
specification |
Namespace names of the general form
This specification uses the Extended Backus-Naur Form
(EBNF) as described in XML 1.0
All parts of this specification are normative, with the EXCEPTION of pseudo-schemas, examples, and sections explicitly marked as "Non-Normative". Pseudo-schemas are provided for each component, before the description of this component.
WSDL includes a binding for SOAP 1.2 endpoints, which supports the specification of the following protocol specific information:
An indication that a binding is bound to the SOAP 1.2 protocol.
A way of specifying an address for a SOAP endpoint.
The URI for the SOAPAction HTTP header field for the HTTP binding of SOAP.
A list of definitions for header blocks that are transmitted as part of the SOAP Envelope
This binding grammar is not an exhaustive specification since the set of SOAP bindings is evolving. Nothing precludes additional SOAP bindings to be derived from portions of this grammar. For example:
SOAP bindings that do not employ a URI addressing scheme
may substitute another addressing scheme by replacing the
SOAP bindings that do not require a
The mandatory
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
One or more
A required
An optional
An optional
An optional
The
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
The [normalized value] "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope/encoding/none" indicates that
the type description was not derived as a function of a well-known encoding.
The [normalized value] MUST NOT be "".
If no
For all [normalized value]s of the
The optional
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
One or more
A required
An optional
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
Omitting this
The optional
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
One or more
A required
An optional
The value of the
The
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The optional
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
Zero or more
An optional
An optional
The
If the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The value of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The value of the
The optional
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
Zero or more
An optional
An optional
The
If the
The
If the operation style is rpc each part is a parameter or a return value and appears inside a wrapper element within the body. The wrapper element is named identically to the operation name and its namespace is the value of the namespace attribute. Each message part (parameter) appears under the wrapper, represented by an accessor named identically to the corresponding parameter of the call. Parts are arranged in the same order as the parameters of the call.
If the operation style is document there are no
additional wrappers, and the message parts appear directly
under the SOAP
The same mechanisms are used to define the content of the
Each part references a
concrete schema definition using either the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
If the value of the
The
that was used to generate type description for the SOAP body block(s) for the [ancestor]
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The [normalized value] "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope/encoding/none" indicates that
the type description has not been derived as a function of a well-known encoding.
The [normalized value] MUST NOT be "".
If no
The optional
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
One or more
An optional
An optional
An optional
An optional
An optional
An optional
The
The
Exactly one of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
The schema referenced MAY include
definitions for the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
that was used to generate type description for the SOAP header block(s) for the [ancestor]
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The [normalized value] "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope/encoding/none" indicates that
the type description has not been derived as a function of a well-known encoding.
The [normalized value] MUST NOT be "".
If no
The optional
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
A [specified] property with a value of
An [owner] of
The type of the
A
The optional
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
One or more
A mandatory
A mandatory
An optional
An optional
The
The
The
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
The schema referenced MAY include
definitions for the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The [normalized value] "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope/encoding/none" indicates that
the type description has not been derived as a function of a well-known encoding.
The [normalized value] MUST NOT be "".
If no
The optional
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
One or more
A mandatory
An optional
An optional
The
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The [normalized value] "http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope/encoding/none" indicates that
the type description has not been derived as a function of a well-known encoding.
The [normalized value] MUST NOT be "".
If no
The mandatory
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
One A required
The
The mandatory
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The WSDL HTTP binding described in this section
is a binding to HTTP 1.1
The WSDL HTTP binding supports the specification of the following protocol specific information:
Binding to the HTTP/1.1 protocol.
An HTTP method to be used for each operation.
An address for an HTTP endpoint.
A relative address for each operation (relative to the base address defined by the port).
Portions of an input message to be serialized in the path of the request URI, query parameters of the request URI, or the body of the request.
Serializing an output message in the body of the response.
The mandatory
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
Zero or one
An optional
The
The
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The optional
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
Zero to two
An optional
An optional
The
If the
The
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The value of the
The
The
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value
An [owner] of
The type of the
The
Message parts are serialized according to the rules of:
Section
Section
The rules in this section MUST be followed when the
HTTP method is
The
When constructing the request URI, each pair of curly braces (and enclosed part name) is replaced by the corresponding part value.
A double curly brace (i.e. "{{" or "}}") MAY be used to include a single, literal curly brace in the request URI.
Part values MUST be URI escaped.
Parts MUST NOT be cited more than once within
the
Strings enclosed within single curly braces MUST be input message part names; any other strings enclosed within single curly braces are a fatal error.
If cited input message parts are defined using an XML Schema type, they MUST derive from xsd:simpleType, but MUST NOT derive from xsd:hexBinary, xsd:base64Binary, or any simple list type.
All input message
parts NOT cited by the
Uncited parts with single values (non-list) are serialized as a single name-value parameter pair. The name of the parameter is the name of the uncited part, and the value of the parameter is the value of the uncited part.
Uncited parts with list values are serialized as one name-value parameter pair per list value. The name of each parameter is the name of the uncited part, and the value of each parameter is the corresponding value in the list.
Part names and values MUST be URI escaped.
If uncited input message parts are defined using an XML Schema type, they MUST derive from xsd:simpleType, MUST NOT derive from xsd:hexBinary or xsd:base64Binary, but MAY derive from a simple list type.
Output message parts are serialized as a single XML document in the body of the HTTP response.
The root of the document is an XML element whose local name and XML namespace are the {name} and {target namespace} of the operation, respectively. The root has one child for each part as follows:
If the {component reference} for an uncited part corresponds to an element declaration, the child is the element instance.
If the {component reference} for an uncited part corresponds to a type definition, the child has a local name, XML namespace, and value corresponding to the {name} of the part, the {target namespace} of the message, and the value of the part, respectively.
The HTTP
If there are no message parts, the HTTP Body MUST
be empty, and the HTTP
The rules in this section MUST be followed when the
HTTP method is
All input message
parts cited by the
All input message parts NOT cited by the
All output message parts are serialized according
to the rules in
All input message
parts cited by the
All input message parts NOT cited by the
If the {component reference} for an uncited
part corresponds to an element declaration,
the content of the MIME body part is the element instance.
The media type of the MIME body part MUST be
If the {component reference} for an uncited
part corresponds to the simple type definition
In all other cases, the content of the MIME body part
is an XML document with a local name, XML namespace,
and value corresponding to the {name} of the part,
the {target namespace} of the message, and the value of the part,
respectively. The media type of the MIME body part MUST be
All output message parts are serialized according
to the rules in
All input message
parts cited by the
All input message parts NOT cited by the
Uncited input parts MUST follow the rules
in
The HTTP
If there is no uncited message part, the HTTP Body MUST be empty,
and the HTTP
All output message parts are serialized according
to the rules in
The mandatory
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] of
A [parent] of
One A required
The
The mandatory
A [local name] of
A [namespace name] which has no value.
An [owner] of
The type of the
WSDL includes a way to bind abstract types to concrete messages in some MIME format. Bindings for the following MIME types are defined:
Others (by specifying the MIME type string)
The set of defined MIME types is both large and evolving, so
it is not a goal for WSDL to exhaustively define XML grammar for
each MIME type. Nothing precludes additional grammar to be
added to define additional MIME types as necessary. If a
MIME type string is sufficient to describe the content, the
The MIME Binding extends WSDL with the following extension elements:
They are used at the following locations in WSDL:
MIME elements appear under input and output to specify the MIME format. If multiple appear, they are considered to be alternatives.
To avoid having to define a new element for every MIME format,
the
The
If the return format is XML
A wildcard (*) can be used to specify a family of mime types, for example all text types.
The following two examples both specify all mime types:
The
The
When using the MIME binding with SOAP requests
To specify XML payloads that are not SOAP compliant (do not
have a SOAP Envelope), but do have a particular schema, the
This document is the work of the W3C Web Services Description Working Group.
Members of the Working Group are (at the time of writing, and by
alphabetical order): Adi Sakala (IONA Technologies),
Alan Davies (SeeBeyond),
Allen Brookes (Rogue Wave Softwave),
Amelia Lewis (TIBCO/Extensibility),
Arthur Ryman (IBM),
Bijan Parsia (University of Maryland),
Dale Moberg (Cyclone Commerce),
Dan Kulp (IONA Technologies),
David Booth (W3C),
Dietmar Gaertner (Software AG),
Don Mullen (TIBCO Software),
Erik Ackerman (Lexmark),
Glen Daniels (Macromedia),
Igor Sedukhin (Computer Associates),
Ingo Melzer (DaimlerChrysler Research and Technology),
Jacek Kopecky (Systinet),
Jean-Jacques Moreau (Canon),
Jeff Mischkinsky (Oracle Corporation),
Jeffrey Schlimmer (Microsoft Corporation),
Jerry Thrasher (Lexmark),
Jim Hendler (University of Maryland),
Johan Pauhlsson (L'Échangeur),
Jonathan Marsh (
Previous members were: Aaron Skonnard (DevelopMentor), Don Wright (Lexmark), Barbara Zengler (DaimlerChrysler Research and Technology), Jochen Ruetschlin (DaimlerChrysler Research and Technology), Joyce Yang (Oracle Corporation), Keith Ballinger (Microsoft), Krishna Sankar (Cisco Systems), Mario Jeckle (DaimlerChrysler Research and Technology), Pallavi Malu (Intel Corporation), William Stumbo (Xerox), Daniel Schutzer (Citigroup), Dave Solo (Citigroup), Stefano Pogliani (Sun Microsystems), Stephen White (SeeBeyond), Tim Finin (University of Maryland)
The people who have contributed to discussions on
| Date | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 20030606 | JJM | Replaced <kw/> by <b/>. Indicated that pseudo-schemas are not normative |
| 20030604 | JJM | Reformated pseudo-syntax elements to match Part 1 layout |
| 20030529 | JCS | Incorporated text to resolve Issue 6e |
| 20030523 | JJM | Commented out MIME binding example; this is primer stuff. |
| 20030523 | JJM | Added pseudo-syntax to all sections. |
| 20030523 | JJM | Started converting the fault and headerfault sections to component model. |
| 20030523 | JJM | Complete the Multipart and x-www-form-urlencoded sections. |
| 20030523 | JJM | Fixed typos in HTTP binding (in particular added NOT in some section headers). |
| 20030522 | JCS | Added rules for serializing HTTP response |
| 20030522 | JCS | Added cardinality to pseudo schema for HTTP binding |
| 20030522 | JCS | Changes @transport to @protocol for SOAP binding |
| 20030522 | JJM | Incorporated remaining text from Philippe into the HTTP binding. |
| 20030522 | JJM | Polished the HTTP binding, split into subsections, added double curly brace escape mechanism, removed pseudo-schema. |
| 20030521 | JCS | Added rules for @verbDefault/@verb and @location. |
| 20030514 | JJM | Start converting the HTTP binding to the component model. The next thing to do will be to remove http:urlReplacement, etc. and incorporate instead Philippe's text. |
| 20030313 | MJG | Changed to Part 3 ( from Part 2 ) |
| 20030117 | JCS | Incorporated resolution for Issue 5 (@encodingStyle). Referenced (rather than in-lined XML Schema). |
| 20030117 | JJM | Various editorial fixes. |
| 20030116 | JCS | Updated pseudo and XML Schema. |
| 20030116 | JJM | Added propertyConstraint section. |
| 20030116 | JJM | Added soap:module section. |
| 20030115 | JCS | Incorporated resolutions for Issue 25 (drop @use and @encoding), Issue 51 (headers reference element/type), and attribute roll up into text and schema. Began reworking SOAP HTTP binding to use Infoset model. Removed informative appendices 'Notes on URIs' and example WSDL documents; expect them to appear in the primer. Updated SOAP 1.2 references to CR. |
| 20030114 | JJM | Removed ednote saying Part 2 is out of synch with Part 1. |
| 20030111 | JJM | Incorporated resolution for issue 17 (role AII). |
| 20030109 | JJM | Incorporated resolution for issue 4 (Namespaces). |
| 20020702 | JJM | Added summary to prefix table. |
| 20020628 | JJM | Added out-of-synch-with-Part2 and not-soap12-yet ednote. |
| 20020621 | JJM | Commented out the link to the previous version. There is no previous version for 1.2 right now. |
| 20020621 | JJM | Rewrote the Notation Conventions section. |
| 20020621 | JJM | Added reference to part 0 in introduction. Renumbered references. |
| 20020621 | JJM | Simplified abstract and introduction. |
| 20020621 | JJM | Obtain the list of WG members from a separate file. |
| 20020621 | JJM | Updated stylesheet and DTDs to latest XMLP stylesheet and DTDs. |
| 20020621 | JJM | Deleted placeholder for appendix C "Location of Extensibility Elements", since this is part 1 stuff and extensibility has been reworked anyway. |
| 20020621 | JJM | Corrected link to issues lists |
| 20020621 | JJM | Updated title from "WSDL" to "Web Services Description Language". Now refer to part 1 as "Web Services... Part 1: Framework |
| 20020621 | JJM | Added Jeffrey as an editor :-). Removed Gudge (now on Part 2) :-( |
| 20020411 | JJM | Fixed typos noticed by Kevin Liu |
| 20020301 | JJM | Converted the "Schemas" sections |
| 20020301 | JJM | Converted the "Wire WSDL examples" sections |
| 20020301 | JJM | Converted the "Notes on URIs" sections |
| 20020301 | JJM | Converted the "Notational Conventions" sections |
| 20020301 | JJM | Converted the "References" sections |
| 20020301 | JJM | Converted the "MIME Binding" section to XML |
| 20020221 | JJM | Converted the "HTTP Binding" section to XML |
| 20020221 | JJM | Added placeholders for the "Wire examples" and "Schema" sections |
| 20020221 | JJM | Converted the "SOAP Binding" section to XML |
| 20020221 | JJM | Added the Change Log |
| 20020221 | JJM | Added the Status section |
| 20020221 | JJM | Simplified the introduction; referred to Part1 for a longer introduction |
| 20020221 | JJM | Renamed to "Part 2: Bindings" |
| 20020221 | JJM | Created from http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/NOTE-wsdl-20010315 |
The encoding schema has been updated to be compliant with the
XML Schema Recommendations (
| Class | Meaning |
|---|---|
| @@@ | @@@ |
The table below lists the changes to the encoding schema.
| Class | Description |
|---|---|
| @@@ | @@@ |