WS-Addressing

Every web service has an endpoint to which service messages are targeted. WSDL allows you to define endpoints for the messages using port types, bindings, service elements, and so on. However, the WSDL 1.1 model lacks flexibility. (For detailed information on WSDL refer http://www.cos.ufrj.br/~baiao/papers/cavalcantim_workflow.pdf.)

To achieve flexibility, a new specification for defining endpoints has been proposed. This is known as WS-Addressing. This specification facilitates the following:

• Endpoint descriptions may be dynamically generated and customized.

• During stateful interactions, new service instances may be created. The new specifications help in identifying these.

• Endpoint information may be shared between communicating parties in tightly coupled environments.

The specification defines new XML elements to address service endpoints. The following XML document illustrates the use of these new elements.

<S:Envelope xmlns:S=”http://www.w3.org/2002/12/soap-envelope”
  xmlns...