BizTalk and Web Services

Web services have become one of the most significant technologies to emerge in some time. Industry-wide acceptance has pushed Web services into the IT mainstream. Any contemporary solution will therefore soon be expected to support service-oriented communication.

The developers of BizTalk Utilities had the foresight to recognize this trend, and chose to provide a component that bridges the gap between BizTalk Server messaging and Web services.

How it works

As shown below, BizTalk Utilities positions itself as an intermediary between BizTalk and internal or external Web services:

Message exchanges with Web services is accomplished using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). BizTalk Utilities provides support for this highly standardized transport format by introducing the SOAPAIC application integration component.

As with other BizTalk Utilities AICs, SOAPAIC is configured using a configuration wizard. Individual Web services are represented by “SOAP Definitions” that contain all of the necessary connection information. The image below, for instance, shows the SOAP Definition Wizard dialog box used to establish the Web service’s WSDL file.

A subsequent screen interprets the WSDL, allowing you to select the Web service operation you would like your BizTalk solution to access.

Summary

By adding the SOAPAIC to your environment will open the door to new interchange partners, and automatically increase the interoperability opportunities of your BizTalk solution. It will also provide you with enhanced orchestration functionality, as the entire third-party Web services market will become available to your environment.

To learn more about these and other features, download an evaluation copy of BizTalk Utilities.