Re: SOAP Encoding - Arrays

 Simon,

 you can see the current editors' copy of the spec at [1], it 
contains the updated array serialization rules now.

 In this update, neither of the attributes itemType and arraySize 
is mandatory, you can get the types from a schema very nicely. 
And it is not necessary for WSDL to extend XML Schema by its own 
attributes any more.

 Another thing, the current resolution of the WG is that the 
Encoding will not (and does not in the editors' copy already) 
support sparse arrays and partially transmitted arrays natively 
(both can be supported by higher-level structures), which 
should simplify implementation greatly (even _with_ the support 
for partial and sparse arrays).

 Best regards,

                   Jacek Kopecky

                   Senior Architect, Systinet (formerly Idoox)
                   http://www.systinet.com/

[1] http://www.w3.org/2000/xp/Group/1/10/11/soap12-part2.html



On Thu, 31 Jan 2002, Simon Fell wrote:

 > Thanks Don,
 > 
 > One of the recent discussions has been over splitting the type and
 > conformance information into two attributes [I'm not sure what the
 > status on this is, it doesn't appear to be in the current draft].
 > 
 > Given that and the fact that Schema's have stabilized, is it possible
 > to remove the requirement to specify the array item types in the
 > array, by using the "arrays must be of type soap-enc:Array or derived
 > from soap-enc:Array" [which i believe is already in the text]. This
 > allows you to push the metadata about the array into the schema and
 > out of the wire rep, but still use xsi:type for polymorphic arrays.
 > e.g.
 > // schema defines array to be of type ns:arrayOfInt
 > <array enc:arraySize="10" enc:offset="5">
 > 	<item>25</item>
 > 	<item>35</item>
 > </array>
 > 
 > // schema defines array to be of type enc:Array
 > <array xsi:type="ns:arrayOfInt" enc:arraySize="2">
 > 	<item>10</item>
 > 	<item>20</item>
 > </array>
 > 
 > Where arrayOfInt is a type derived from soap-enc array, as described
 > in the WSDL spec. This allows arrays to be treated in a manner consist
 > with all the other type types that are part of the encoding spec.
 > 
 > Thanks
 > Simon
 > www.pocketsoap.com
 > 
 > On Thu, 31 Jan 2002 12:55:18 -0800, in soap you wrote:
 > 
 > >The reason for the SOAP:array attribute was two fold:
 > >
 > >1) We wanted the conformance (capacity) of the array to appear in the
 > >initial element. This is super important for supporting both Java/CLR
 > >and for NDR/CDR efficiently.
 > >
 > >2) We wanted the equivalent of xsi:type but with support for arrays (and
 > >arguably typed references). Unfortunately, SOAP/1.1 and earlier were
 > >written during a period of immense churn over in Schemas, so SOAP/1.1
 > >never had a chance to really finish this off. 
 > >
 > >DB
 > >
 > >
 > >> -----Original Message-----
 > >> From: Simon Fell [mailto:soap@zaks.demon.co.uk]
 > >> Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2002 11:09 AM
 > >> To: xml-dist-app@w3.org
 > >> Subject: SOAP Encoding - Arrays
 > >> 
 > >> One thing i've never fully understood is why arrays are special when
 > >> it comes to type information, why must we include the type of the
 > >> array elements in the message, when for all other types, its contained
 > >> in external metadata (schema, etc).
 > >> 
 > >> Thanks
 > >> Simon
 > >> www.pocketsoap.com
 >

Received on Friday, 1 February 2002 06:00:56 UTC