- From: Janet Daly <janet@w3.org>
- Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2003 07:02:13 -0700
- To: w3c-news <w3c-news@w3.org>
Today the W3C issues SOAP Version 1.2 as a full W3C Recommendation, resolving over 400 technical and editorial issues, and ensuring an open and extensible foundation for Web Services. "Web services customers and developers alike demand an XML-based Web services protocol that powers the full range of applications and Web technologies they can imagine using,"explained Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. "Now that SOAP Version 1.2 is here, they have it." For more information, including contacts with implementors, please contact Janet Daly, W3C Head of Communications, at +1 617 253 5884 <janet@w3.org>, or use the contacts at the end of this email. -------------------------------------------------- World Wide Web Consortium Issues SOAP Version 1.2 as a W3C Recommendation W3C XML Protocol Working Group Delivers Essential Component for Web Services Web Resources: This press release (hypertext version) in English http://www.w3.org/2003/06/soap12-pressrelease.html.en in French http://www.w3.org/2003/06/soap12-pressrelease.html.fr in japanese http://www.w3.org/2003/06/soap12-pressrelease.html.ja Testimonials from BEA Systems, IBM, Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, SeeBeyond, SunMicrosystems, Systinet Corporation, webMethods Inc., and WS-I (text included in this email): http://www.w3.org/2003/06/soap12-testimonial Frequently Asked Questions on SOAP Version 1.2 http://www.w3.org/2003/06/soap12faq.html The SOAP Version 1.2 Documents Part 0: Primer http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/REC-soap12-part0-20030624/ Part 1: Messaging Framework http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/REC-soap12-part1-20030624/ Part 2: Adjuncts http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/REC-soap12-part2-20030624/ Specification Assertions and Test Collection http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/REC-soap12-testcollection-20030624/ http://www.w3.org/ -- 24 June 2003 -- The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) today releases the SOAP Version 1.2 Recommendation, consisting of the SOAP Version 1.2 Primer, the SOAP Version 1.2 Messaging Framework, SOAP Version 1.2 Adjuncts, and the SOAP Version 1.2 Specification Assertions and Test Collection. SOAP Version 1.2 is a lightweight protocol intended for exchanging structured information in a decentralized, distributed environment such as the Web. A W3C Recommendation is the equivalent of a Web standard, indicating that this W3C-developed specification is stable, contributes to Web interoperability, and has been reviewed by the W3C Membership, who favor its adoption by the industry. "Web services make good on the promise of interoperable applications only when the technical foundations are shared, robust, and achieve expected performance," explained Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. "Today, W3C Members have endorsed SOAP Version 1.2, the first version of SOAP to have undergone rigorous testing and implementation, and to support a full complement of Web standards. Web services customers and developers alike demand an XML-based Web services protocol that powers the full range of applications and Web technologies they can imagine using. Now that SOAP Version 1.2 is here, they have it." Robust Web Services Rely on Standardized, Flexible Models for Message Exchange Data transport is central to modern computing in the networked, decentralized, and distributed environment that is the Web. As XML has emerged as the preferred format for data, the challenge is for both the sender and the receiver to agree on an application level transfer protocol - whether the transfer is to occur between software programs, machines, or organizations. Since its inception in September 2000, W3C's XML Protocol Working Group has worked on both XML Protocol Requirements and the SOAP Version 1.2 specification, using the W3C Note SOAP 1.1 as a starting point. Now that the Working Group produced multiple drafts, received significant feedback from developers, identified interoperable implementations, and received comprehensive review from the W3C Membership, SOAP Version 1.2 is ready for widespread deployment. SOAP Version 1.2 Provides Stable Support for W3C Recommendations, Refined Processing Model The XML Protocol Working Group has the goal of developing technologies which enable two or more peers to communicate in a distributed environment, using XML as the encapsulation language. Their solution allows a layered architecture on top of a simple and extensible messaging format, which provides robustness, simplicity, reusability and interoperability. An introduction for users such as application designers, the Primer is an easily understandable tutorial that describes the features of SOAP Version 1.2 through examples and links to the specification. The SOAP Version 1.2 specification provides a framework for XML-based messaging systems in two parts, the Messaging Framework and Adjuncts: SOAP Version 1.2 Messaging Framework provides a processing model (the rules for processing a SOAP message), an extensibility framework (enabling developers to use extensions inside and outside the SOAP envelope), the message construct (the rules for constructing SOAP messages), and the protocol binding framework (the rules for specifying the exchange of SOAP messages over underlying protocols such as HTTP). SOAP Version 1.2 Adjuncts completes the specification. It includes rules for representing remote procedure calls (RPCs), for encoding SOAP messages, for describing SOAP features and SOAP bindings. It also provides a standard binding of SOAP to HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), allowing SOAP messages to be exchanged using the mechanisms of the World Wide Web. Intended to help implementers write SOAP processors, the Specification Assertions and Test Collection provide a set of tests drawn from the assertions found in the Messaging Framework and Adjuncts. These tests show whether the assertions are implemented in a SOAP processor, and are designed to foster interoperability between different SOAP Version 1.2 implementations. In addition to fulfilling requirements spelled out in the Working Group charter, SOAP Version 1.2 integrates core XML technologies. SOAP Version 1.2 is designed to work seamlessly with W3C XML schemas, maximizing SOAP's utility with a broad range of XML tools, and paving the way for future work on the Web Services Description Language (WSDL). It also makes use of Namespaces in XML as a flexible and lightweight mechanism for handling XML language mixing. SOAP Version 1.2 describes a refined processing model, thus removing ambiguities found in SOAP 1.1. SOAP Version 1.2 includes improved error messages that will help developers to write better applications. SOAP Version 1.2 Implementations Successful, Already in Product After its Candidate Recommendation period, the W3C XML Protocol Working Group tracked seven SOAP Version 1.2 implementations from W3C Member organizations and independent developers to ensure the viability and interoperability of implementations based on the specification. The Working Group previously identified and resolved over 400 technical and editorial issues raised in public review of SOAP 1.1 and the resulting SOAP Version 1.2. Current participants in the Working Group include industry and technology leaders: AT&T; BEA Systems; Canon; DaimlerChrysler Research and Technology; Ericsson; Fujitsu Limited; IBM; IONA Technologies; Macromedia; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.; Microsoft Corporation; Oracle Corporation; SAP AG; SeeBeyond; Software AG; Sun Microsystems; and Systinet. Developer communities outside of the W3C Membership and other organizations with related interests have provided valuable input to the creation of SOAP Version 1.2. Many W3C Members have issued testimonials, with commitments to current or future implementations of SOAP Version 1.2. Testimonials in support of SOAP Version 1.2 W3C Testimonials for W3C's SOAP 1.2 Recommendation BEA Systems | IBM | Microsoft Corporation | Oracle Corporation | SeeBeyond | SunMicrosystems | Systinet Corporation | webMethods Inc. | WS-I BEA is very pleased to see SOAP 1.2 become a W3C Recommendation. SOAP 1.2 provides a key specification for building Web services. The technical improvements, as well as the Royalty-Free status, will foster faster adoption of Web services in the IT industry. BEA continues to support the standardization of Web services specifications in a Royalty-Free manner, and the W3C as an essential forum of such foundational work. BEA Systems, a leader in standards, supports SOAP 1.2 in our WebLogic Platform. -- Ed Cobb, Vice President of Standards and Architecture, BEA Systems SOAP is the foundation technology for Web services and a critical component of the emerging technical infrastructures of Grid and IBM's e-Business On Demand computing initiative. IBM continues to be instrumental in driving SOAP to become a platform and language-neutral mechanism for application integration suitable for widespread deployment, and in developing the SOAP 1.2 specification at W3C. IBM is committed to the development of open standards for Web services and their incorporation into our products, thus ensuring the interoperability and viability of solutions for our customers, and we are pleased to endorse SOAP 1.2 as a W3C Recommendation. -- Karla Norsworthy, Director of Dynamic e-business Technologies, IBM Microsoft Corp., IBM Corp., DevelopMentor Inc., Lotus Development Corp. and UserLand Software Inc. submitted SOAP version 1.1 to W3C in 2000 to kick-start the standards and design work for Web services. The W3C SOAP version 1.2 recommendation is a milestone in the evolution of the Web services architecture. SOAP version 1.2 builds on the initial specification's early success and widespread adoption, while bringing significant technical benefits to applications developers. Having provided product support and co-authors for all SOAP versions, Microsoft will continue that support with SOAP version 1.2, infusing the specification across products and services, including the next versions of .NET Framework and Microsoft Visual Studio development system, with the goal of interoperability across heterogeneous environments. -- Steven VanRoekel, Director of Web Services, Microsoft Corporation As a major contributor to the XML Protocol Working Group, Oracle is pleased to endorse the W3C SOAP 1.2 Recommendation. This standard represents a significant step toward industry-wide interoperability of Web services and further demonstrates the importance of the W3C's open, consensus-driven process and rigorous public review. Oracle will be fully supporting SOAP 1.2 across all of its products, including Oracle9i Application Server, Oracle9i Database, Oracle9i JDeveloper, and Oracle E-Business Suite, and encourages customers and other vendors to quickly adopt this important standard. -- Don Deutsch, Vice President of Standards Strategy and Architecture, Oracle Corporation Enabling a services-oriented architecture (SOA) based on Web Services requires a strong commitment to global standards, such as SOAP Version 1.2. Our participation in the W3C's XML Protocol Working Group and support for SOAP in the SeeBeyond® Integrated Composite Application Network (SeeBeyond ICAN) Suite are demonstrations of our commitment to the evolution of Web Services. -- Alan Davies, Vice President of Standards, SeeBeyond As a long-time supporter of standards-based solutions and their value to customers in containing costs and enabling vendor choice, Sun applauds the W3C in moving SOAP 1.2 to final standardization. SOAP 1.2's improvements for distributed XML-based messaging is an important point of progress for the industry, and customers can expect to see Java platform and Sun ONE product support for this latest version of SOAP in the near future. -- Connie Weiss, Director of Web Technologies and Standards, Sun Microsystems, Inc. The SOAP 1.2 specification is a major step forward in providing robust standards that will further the adoption of Web services. Systinet provided a reference implementation for SOAP 1.2, and we are pleased to be involved in this important effort. -- Roman Stanek, CEO, Systinet Corporation webMethods has long been a leader of industry standards. Consequently, we are extremely pleased to have not only contributed to the development of the SOAP 1.2 standard, but also to also see it approved as a Recommendation. With more than 400 issues resolved, we believe SOAP 1.2 will help increase the adoption rate of Web Services. Before businesses can be comfortable deploying Web services throughout their organizations, they need to know that these deployments will be viable and interoperable. SOAP 1.2 goes a long way towards meeting these needs. webMethods is looking forward to supporting SOAP 1.2 within the webMethods Integration Platform, as this standard is a key component to our customers’ Web Services-based integration strategy. -- Andy Astor, Vice President of Enterprise Web Services, webMethods, Inc. WS-I is pleased to see the release of the SOAP 1.2 Recommendation from the W3C. This is a valuable step forward for the popular SOAP specification, and we expect there will be broad industry adoption. WS-I remains committed to supporting industry-wide collaboration in the creation of open and interoperable standards. As SOAP 1.2 is put into service, WS-I will consider incorporating the specification into a future version of the Basic Profile and will respond as neccessary if interoperability issues are identified. -- Tom Glover, Chairman, WS-I Contact America -- Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613 Contact Europe -- Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94 Contact Asia -- Saeko Takeuchi <saeko@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170 About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C] The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. It is an international industry consortium jointly run by the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT LCS) in the USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) headquartered in France, and Keio University in Japan. Services provided by the Consortium include: a repository of information about the World Wide Web for developers and users, and various prototype and sample applications to demonstrate use of new technology. To date, over 400 organizations are Members of the Consortium. For more information see http://www.w3.org/
Received on Tuesday, 24 June 2003 10:02:00 UTC