Glossary

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A

authentication

The process through which an http server verifies the identity of its client.

C

CDF

see Client Definition File

CDF2DDL

The CDF-to-DDL utility, a component of SOAPam Client. It creates DDL source that describes the interprocess messages that a client application uses to call a Web service via the SOAPam Client Process.

Client Definition File

CDF; an XML-based document used to describe a Web service. It contains information that tells the SOAPam Client Process how to map an interprocess message received from a client application to a Web service method call. A CDF is created by the WSDL2CDF utility and is read by the CDF2DDL utility to produce a DDL definition that describes the interprocess message.

Control Panel

A component of SOAPam Server; the browser-based application that lets you manage the SOAPam Server environment.

D

Data Definition Language

NonStop Server product that defines a language for describing structured data. It includes a compiler for the language and repositories ("dictionaries") in which to store the compiled descriptions.

DDL

see Data Definition Language

deserialization

The process through which SOAPam converts an XML-formatted SOAP request into a server request interprocess message. See also serialization.

G

Guardian

One of the two operating environments ("personalities") supported by the NonStop Kernel (NSK) operating system on HP NonStop Servers. Also see NSK.

H

HTTP

see HyperText Transfer Protocol

HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer

HyperText Transfer Protocol

HTTP; the set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web.

I

interprocess message

A message exchanged between two processes, typically a 'client' and a 'server', in predefined, structured format.

IPM

see interprocess message

M

method

A member function of a Web service, it performs some action and typically accepts and returns information as one or more parameters.

N

NSK

NonStop Kernel; the core layer of the operating system on HP (formerly Compaq, Tandem) NonStop Servers. Although "NSK" originally was intended to describe the part of the operating system shared by both the Open System Services (OSS) and Guardian "personalities", it is commonly used as a synonym for the Guardian personality itself.

P

Pathway

HP NonStop Server server management environment. Performs load-balancing and process management for customer-written application servers. SOAPam interfaces to Pathway to send interprocess messages on behalf of Web service client applications.

S

SDF

see Service Definition File

Secure Sockets Layer

SSL; a commonly-used protocol for managing the security of a message transmission on the Internet. SSL uses a program layer located between the Internet's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Transport Control Protocol (TCP) layers. SSL uses the public-and-private key encryption system from RSA, which also includes the use of a digital certificate. See also Transport Layer Security (TLS).

serialization

The process through which SOAPam converts an application server reply interprocess message (IPM) to an XML-formatted SOAP response. See also deserialization.

service

see Web service

Service Definition File

SDF; an XML-based document used to describe a service. It contains information that tells SOAPam Server how to map Web service methods calls to specific servers or server classes on a NonStop Server. It also contains information that SOAPam Server uses to map SOAP method parameters to and from server interprocess messages (IPM). Service Definition File names always have the ".sdf" extension. SOAPam dynamically generates a standard WSDL file from your .sdf file.

Service Definition Wizard

A component of SOAPam Server; provides browser-based user interface for creating and maintaining Service Definition Files (SDF). It is accessed via the SOAPam Server Control Panel.

SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol; a lightweight protocol for exchange of information in a decentralized, distributed environment. It is an XML-based protocol that consists of three parts: an envelope that defines a framework for describing what is in a message and how to process it, a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defined data types, and a convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses.

SOAPam Server (process)

The NSK-based server process (a running SOAPAM object) responsible for receiving SOAP requests over HTTP from remote client applications, reformatting them as interprocess messages and forwarding them to the appropriate server application. It also implements the SOAPam Server Control Panel, the WebDAV interface to the VFS and the Service Definition Wizard.

SOAPam Server (product)

The SOAPam product that allows standard Web service client applications on any platform to access an existing Pathway or $RECEIVE-based server application as a Web service.

SOAPam Client

The SOAPam product that allows NSK-based client applications to consume Web services on any platform via native interprocess messages.

SOAPam Client Process

The NSK-based server process (a running SOAPAMCP object) responsible for receiving interprocess messages from NSK-based client applications, reformatting them as SOAP requests and forwarding them to the appropriate WSDL endpoint.

SSL

see Secure Sockets Layer

T

TLS

see Transport Layer Security

Transport Layer Security

TLS; a protocol that ensures privacy between communicating applications and their users on the Internet. When a server and client communicate, TLS ensures that no third party may eavesdrop or tamper with any message. TLS is the successor to the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

TMF

see Transaction Monitoring Facility

Transaction Monitoring Facility

NonStop Server product responsible for maintaining.... Now known as NonStop TM/MP.

V

VFS

see Virtual File System

Virtual File System

VFS; a component of SOAPam Server. A WebDAV-compliant file system, it provides a network-accessible repository for Service Definition Files (SDF) and Web Service Description Language (WSDL) files.

W

Web service

A Web service is a collection of "methods" that can be invoked (called) through a network by a client application using the SOAP protocol. Methods perform some defined action and typically accept and return one or more parameters.

Web Services Description Language

WSDL; an XML-based language used to describe the services a business offers and to provide a way clients to access those services electronically.

WebDAV

Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning; a set of extensions to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that facilitates collaborative editing and file management between users located remotely from each other on the Internet.

WSDL

see Web Services Description Language

WSDL2CDF

The WSDL-to-CDF utility, a component of SOAPam Client. It reads a WSDL file describing a Web service and creates a CDF that incorporates additional information about the service based on parameters you supply.

X

XML

eXtensible Markup Language: a standard for creating structured textual documents. SOAP, WSDL and SDF are XML documents. See http://www.w3.org/xml.