Chapter 3 Service Endpoint Design

109

E

There may be a performance drawback to sending an XML document as a 

String

 object: As the document size grows, the 

String

 equivalent size of the 

document grows as well. As a result, the payload size of the message you send 

also grows. In addition, the XML document loses its original format since 

sending a document as a 

String

 object sends it in a canonical format.

The third option is to exchange the XML document as a SOAP document

fragment. With this option, you map the XML document to 

xsd:anyType

 in the

service's WSDL file.

E

It is recommended that Web services exchange XML documents as SOAP doc 

ument fragments because passing XML documents in this manner is both por 

table across J2EE implementations and interoperable with all platforms.

E

To pass SOAP document fragments, you must implement your service using 

the WSDL to Java approach. 

For example, the travel agency service receives an XML document represent 

ing a purchase order that contains all details about the customer's preferred travel

plans. To implement this service, you define the WSDL for the service and, in the

WSDL, you map the XML document type as 

xsd:anyType

. See Code Example

3.19.