xmlhack: SOAP 1.2, XML Protocol Abstract Model

The W3C has released Working Drafts of SOAP 1.2 and the XML Protocol Abstract Model.

SOAP 1.2 marks the first official publication by a W3C Activity of SOAP, previously published as a member submission. SOAP 1.2:

"provides a simple and lightweight mechanism for exchanging structured and typed information between peers in a decentralized, distributed environment using XML. SOAP does not itself define any application semantics such as a programming model or implementation specific semantics; rather it defines a simple mechanism for expressing application semantics by providing a modular packaging model and encoding mechanisms for encoding application defined data."

The future of the Abstract Model seems unclear. Development is proceeding:

"in order to provide a useful framework for the evaluation of candidate protocols and for reasoning about the development of the protocol itself. At this time the XML Protocol Working Group has not decided whether an Abstract Model such as this one will be eventually published as a separate Note, a separate Recommendation or whether material from the Abstract Model will be incorporated as non-normative (informative) text within an eventual Recommendation specifying an XML Protocol."

Both of these documents were created by the XML Protocol Activity of the W3C, whose discussions take place on the xml-dist-app mailing list.