ProductsXMLSpyWeb Services ToolsWSDL Editor

XMLSpy® 2008 includes a graphical WSDL editor that makes it easy to create, edit, visualize, validate, and generate documentation for WSDL files.

WSDL Editor

A WSDL (Web Services Description Language) definition acts as the initial Web services interface, providing clients with all the information they need to interact with the service in a standards-based way. By building this interface first, client and server programmers can implement their respective programming contract using any language or operating system, avoiding interoperability problems.

Despite the advantages of WSDL for facilitating simplified, standards-based communications, WSDL syntax can be complex, and writing the code by hand in a text-only editor is often difficult and confusing. XMLSpy’s unique graphical approach to WSDL design simplifies WSDL development by allowing you to build your WSDL visually, with drag-and-drop functionality and full validation and editing guidance.

 View a Flash demo of the graphical WSDL editor now

The graphical WSDL editor displays the WSDL file structure with its elements grouped by portTypes, bindings, and services.

Next to the graphical display, the overview window provides a summary of the service and its components, and context-sensitive entry-helper windows offer useful editing options.

There are several options available for defining the details of the WSDL. You can add and edit details in the overview and entry helper windows or directly in the design itself. A context-sensitive right-click menu and drop down menus within the graphical WSDL components also present you with valid choices for defining each element. The WSDL toolbar is another feature that provides you with only the choices that are valid based on the currently selected element.

Clicking any element in the overview window highlights it in the design view (and vice versa), allowing you to easily understand the WSDL structure and change an element’s details quickly and easily. Advanced drag-and-drop capabilities allow you to drag elements from the design to the overview and vice versa. In addition, when you select an element and click over to the XMLSpy text view tab, the code defining that element is highlighted within the overall WSDL document. This allows you to see exactly how each change you make is reflected in the WSDL code. Similarly, any changes you make to the code in text view are immediately reflected in the graphical WSDL design view.

Complete Web Services Development

Altova MapForce® 2008 supports visual Web services implementation based on WSDL files created in XMLSpy® 2008 (or any standard WSDL document). Using MapForce, you simply map between operations in WSDL transactions by dragging connecting lines between data sources and WSDL operations. Supported data sources include XML files, relational databases, flat files, EDI messages, and even other Web services. Then, once you’ve defined mappings for all the transactions in your WSDL file, MapForce auto-generates the C# or Java code required to implement the Web service on a server.

Since building Web services in MapForce is a visual process, using XMLSpy and MapForce together, you can create Web services from start to finish in a visual manner. This accelerates Web services development and reduces the occurrence of errors that may be introduced by manual coding.

By creating a WSDL file in XMLSpy® 2008, then building the corresponding Web service and generating program code in MapForce® 2008, you can build a complete Web service visually – without having to write a single line of code! All that’s left to do is compile the code generated by MapForce and deploy it on a server. The resulting increases in productivity and code quality are staggering.

You can harness the Web services development features of XMLSpy and MapForce in the Altova® MissionKit™ 2008, which bundles multiple Altova tools at a special discounted price.

WSDL Documentation Generator

In addition to the ability to save and print the graphical WSDL design, the XMLSpy® 2008 WSDL documentation generation utility makes it easy for Web services developers to document and publish the complete details of a Web service's interface to business partners, other developers, or to the public. Any WSDL file can be easily annotated and then published in a Microsoft Word or HTML file. You can select which details to include in the documentation, and links to related items in the output files help you navigate the documentation easily.

The WSDL documentation generator can be used to develop documentation for any WSDL file, including auto-generated WSDL files used by various server platforms. Click here for a sample WSDL documentation file in HTML format.

See how these graphical WSDL design and documentation features simplify and accelerate this vital aspect of Web services development - Download a free 30-day trial of XMLSpy.