Web Services in Qntrl – REST & SOAP Integration Explained | Inbound REST | Outbound REST | Inbound SOAP | Outbound SOAP

Web Services Overview

Web services enable different applications to communicate with each other over a network using standard protocols, enabling the exchange of data and execution of remote operations. The Qntrl platform supports two types of web services:
  1. Inbound Web Services: These services allow your system to receive requests from external systems.
    • Inbound REST Web Services
    • Inbound SOAP Web Services
  2. Outbound Web Services: These services allow your system to send requests to external systems.
    1. Outbound REST Web Services
    2. Outbound SOAP Web Services
 

REST Web Services 

REST (Representational State Transfer) is a lightweight, flexible architecture widely used for building web APIs. RESTful services communicate using standard HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE, and typically exchange data in formats such as JSON or XML.

Key features

  • Stateless: Each request from the client to the server must contain all the information needed to process the request.
  • Resource-based: Interactions are centered around resources (data objects), each identified by a unique URL.
  • Lightweight: Minimal overhead with easy integration and better performance.
Info

  • Ideal for mobile and web applications.

  • Common in modern APIs where fast, scalable communication is required.

  

SOAP Web Services

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is an XML-based protocol used for exchanging structured information in web services. It follows specific guidelines:
  • Request and Response Format: Both must be in XML.
  • HTTP Method: The request must be sent via POST method.
  • Request Payload: Must be included in the body, not in query parameters or headers. The request message follows a specific structure with operations defined in the XML request tags.
 

Key features 

  • Strict standards: Uses WSDL (Web Services Description Language) for describing service structure.
  • Highly secure and reliable: Supports advanced features like WS-Security, transactions, and message-level encryption.
  • Platform and language independent.
Info

  • Preferred in enterprise environments where security, transaction integrity, or formal contracts are required.

  • Common in integrations with legacy systems or large-scale business applications.

 

WSDL in SOAP Web Services  

WSDL (Web Services Description Language) is an XML-based definition that describes the structure of a SOAP web service. It outlines the service operations, input and output data types, communication protocols, and endpoint locations. Both Inbound and Outbound SOAP services in Qntrl use WSDL to define and facilitate communication between systems.
  • Inbound SOAP Service: When you create an Inbound SOAP service in Qntrl, a WSDL file is generated automatically. This WSDL acts as a service contract that defines the available operations, expected request formats, and the response structure. External systems can access this URL to download the WSDL and configure their SOAP client to interact with your web service.
  • Outbound SOAP Service: For an Outbound SOAP service, you need to provide the WSDL file of the external service. Qntrl uses it to understand the operations supported by the external service and format outgoing SOAP requests accordingly.
 



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