Q: SOAP data type mapping

[Ara Kassabian <ar...@techone.com>]

The SOAP specification includes a type specification, but no language
mapping (i.e., Java->XSD and XSD->Java or C++->XSD and XSD->C++). As a
result, it seems that many distinct Java types (like Vectors and arrays, for
example) all seem to get mapped into a single XSD data type unless one
defines extensions to the XSD schema. This introduces ambiguities when
deserializing the XML back into Java. For example, Vectors may map into an
XSD array but deserialized into a Java array.

I was wondering if anybody had thoughts as far as the "proper" way of
resolving such ambiguities. Should one define extensions to standard schema
and expect the SOAP deserializer to dynamically look up the data types and
create proper Java objects? Or should one just learn to live with the
ambiguities? Is this a deficiency of the SOAP specification or just the
"Simple" part of SOAP?

I appreciate any feedback.

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Ara Kassabian
TechOne, Inc.
100 N. Brand Blvd., Suite 605
Glendale, CA 91203
http://www.techone.com
ara@techone.com
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