User-defined Web services

In addition to the Web methods provided by the ASE Web Services Engine, ASE Web Services enables you to create Web services and execute SQL commands in Adaptive Server Enterprise using either a Web browser or a SOAP client.

Figure 2-3: User-defined Web services

A client communicates with the ASE Web Services Engine using SOAP. A Browser communicates with the ASE Web Services Engine using HTTP. The ASE Web Services Engine and Adaptive Server Enterprise communicate by JDBC.

You can create a user-defined Web service with the create service command, which enables you to specify the SQL to be executed, create a first-class object for which permissions can be controlled with the grant command, and control whether the service can be invoked with a Web browser or a SOAP client. The ASE Web Services Engine automatically generates WSDL for user-defined Web services. For details on creating and using user-defined Web services, see Chapter 4, “Using ASE Web Services.”

Do not use GET HTTP requests. These commands embed all arguments within the URL, which cannot be encrypted. Use POST HTTP, which moves all arguments into the body of the HTTP request and allows the whole contents to be encrypted.