Reference Parameters - using them

Related to David's examples for i057, I was wondering about what I would 
consider the most common use-case for reference parameters - the server 
wanting the client to return context in the next request. It seems to me 
the current design of reference parameters are only useful for

a) fixed value data - i.e. not session-like data
b) the client asking the server to pass back information using the 
replyTo header

Consider the (common?) scenario where a client logs into a server. The 
server then creates a "session" in which it has customerKey and 
shoppingCartId values it wants the client to pass back in each 
subsequent request. These are opaque as the client does not have to know 
what the customerId or shoppingCartId are to work, it just has to 
include them as-is. ReferenceParameters seem the ideal vehicle for this 
but where would the server specify these parameters? They are not fixed 
values and will change for each "conversation" so they cannot just be 
specified in the WSDL with fixed values. They have to be parameterized 
somehow to allow the server to set the actual session values and pass 
them to the client to be included in the next request.

Is this beyond the scope of reference parameters? In (my understanding 
of) their current form they are of little use. It is unlikely you would 
want to publish fixed values within parameters in WSDL (or any other 
static mechanism) and less likely that the client would start the 
session information that could be contained within them.

Pete

Received on Wednesday, 28 September 2005 23:35:27 UTC