Original publication date: December, 2004
In early January, Softshare will offer a Web Services Toolkit for use with Softshare Delta 4.0 and Softshare ECS 4.0. Its purpose is to assist you with the implementation of any XML business framework.
For those of you new to the concept, Web Services are services available over the Web. Some current Web Services that you probably use regularly include: search engines, language translators, weather guides, dictionaries, directories, maps, and many other Internet tools. These types of Web Services generally require human intervention.
The Web Services that Delta and ECS provide are computer-to-computer integration services over the Web. Most Web Services implementations use HTTP as the communications method and XML as the data format for carrying the request or response parameters. While the XML component is not mandated, the majority of implementations use XML as a way to define the contents of the message. Along those same lines, more and more Web Services implementations take advantage of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). SOAP is a specification that defines the XML format for messages.
Using Softshare Delta 4.0 and Softshare ECS 4.0, you can implement Web Services within your existing e-commerce platform. Softshare's building-block approach does not require any Java or .Net code.
The Web Services Toolkit works in conjunction with Delta and ECS, consisting of a number of business framework tutorials for the RosettaNet, ebXML and ACORD specifications. There is also a more general tutorial that illustrates the basic concepts behind Web Services in a Delta/ECS environment. Each tutorial includes sample maps and documentation.
In addition, the Web Services Toolkit supports the XML Signature and XML Encryption W3C specifications that are typically used by SOAP-based frameworks such as ebXML and ACORD. The toolkit will also support the OASIS Web Services Security (WSS) extensions once the new WSS-SwA specifications have been finalized by OASIS.
Softshare's Web Services Toolkit is priced at $2995 and includes four hours of Professional Services support to be provided in 15-minute-or-more increments during the first 365 days following the purchase of the toolkit. Contact a Softshare sales representative at 800-346-6703 or sales@softshare.com with any questions or to purchase the toolkit.