Starting Server::SOAP

        POE::Component::Server::SOAP->new(
                'ALIAS'         =>      'MySOAP',
                'ADDRESS'       =>      '192.168.1.1',
                'PORT'          =>      11111,
                'HOSTNAME'      =>      'MySite.com',
                'HEADERS'       =>      {},
        );

This method will die on error or return success.

This constructor accepts only 7 options.

"ALIAS"

This will set the alias Server::SOAP uses in the POE Kernel. This will default to "SOAPServer"

"ADDRESS"

This value will be passed to POE::Component::Server::SimpleHTTP to bind to.

Examples: ADDRESS => 0 # Bind to all addresses + localhost ADDRESS => 'localhost' # Bind to localhost ADDRESS => '192.168.1.1' # Bind to specified IP

"PORT"

This value will be passed to POE::Component::Server::SimpleHTTP to bind to.

"HOSTNAME"

This value is for the HTTP::Request's URI to point to. If this is not supplied, POE::Component::Server::SimpleHTTP will use Sys::Hostname to find it.

"HEADERS"

This should be a hashref, that will become the default headers on all HTTP::Response objects. You can override this in individual requests by setting it via $response->header( ... )

The default header is: Server => 'POE::Component::Server::SOAP/' . $VERSION

For more information, consult the HTTP::Headers module.

"MUSTUNDERSTAND"

This is a boolean value, controlling whether Server::SOAP will check for this value in the Headers and Fault if it is present. This will default to true.

"SIMPLEHTTP"

This allows you to pass options to the SimpleHTTP backend. One of the real reasons is to support SSL in Server::SOAP, yay! To learn how to use SSL, please consult the POE::Component::Server::SimpleHTTP documentation. Of course, you could totally screw up things, just use this with caution :)

You must pass a hash reference as the value, because it will be expanded and put in the Server::SimpleHTTP->new() constructor.

Events

"ADDMETHOD"

        This event accepts four arguments:
                - The intended session alias
                - The intended session event
                - The public service name       ( not required -> defaults to session alias )
                - The public method name        ( not required -> defaults to session event )

        Calling this event will add the method to the registry.

        NOTE: This will overwrite the old definition of a method if it exists!
    

"DELMETHOD"

        This event accepts two arguments:
                - The service name
                - The method name

        Calling this event will remove the method from the registry.

        NOTE: if the service now contains no methods, it will also be removed.
    

"DELSERVICE"

        This event accepts one argument:
                - The service name

        Calling this event will remove the entire service from the registry.
    

"DONE"

        This event accepts only one argument: the SOAP::Response object we sent to the handler.

        Calling this event implies that this particular request is done, and will proceed to close the socket.

        The content in $response->content() will be automatically serialized via SOAP::Lite's SOAP::Serializer

        NOTE: This method automatically sets some parameters:
                - HTTP Status = 200 ( if not defined )
                - HTTP Header value of 'Content-Type' = 'text/xml'

        To get greater throughput and response time, do not post() to the DONE event, call() it!
        However, this will force your program to block while servicing SOAP requests...
    

"RAWDONE"

        This event accepts only one argument: the SOAP::Response object we sent to the handler.

        Calling this event implies that this particular request is done, and will proceed to close the socket.

        The only difference between this and the DONE event is that the content in $response->content() will not
        be serialized and passed through intact to the SOAP envelope. This is useful if you generate the xml yourself.

        NOTE:
                - The xml content does not need to have a <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"> header
                - In SOAP::Lite, the client sees '<foo>54</foo><bar>89</bar>' as '54' only!
                        The solution is to enclose the xml in another name, i.e. '<data><foo>54</foo><bar>89</bar></data>'
                - If the xml is malformed or is not escaped properly, the client will get terribly confused!

        It will be inserted here:
                ...<soap:Body><namesp4:TestResponse xmlns:namesp4="http://localhost:32080/">YOURSTUFFHERE</namesp4:TestResponse></soap:Body>...
    

"FAULT"

        This event accepts five arguments:
                - the HTTP::Response object we sent to the handler
                - SOAP Fault Code       ( not required -> defaults to 'Server' )
                - SOAP Fault String     ( not required -> defaults to 'Application Faulted' )
                - SOAP Fault Detail     ( not required )
                - SOAP Fault Actor      ( not required )

        Again, calling this event implies that this particular request is done, and will proceed to close the socket.

        Calling this event will generate a SOAP Fault and return it to the client.

        NOTE: This method automatically sets some parameters:
                - HTTP Status = 500 ( if not defined )
                - HTTP Header value of 'Content-Type' = 'text/xml'
                - HTTP Content = SOAP Envelope of the fault ( overwriting anything that was there )
    

"RAWFAULT"

        This event accepts only one argument: the SOAP::Response object we sent to the handler.

        Calling this event implies that this particular request is done, and will proceed to close the socket.

        The only difference between this and the FAULT event is that you are given freedom to create your own xml for the
        fault. It will be passed through intact to the SOAP envelope. Be sure to read the SOAP specs :)

        This is very similar to the RAWDONE event, so go read the notes up there!

        It will be inserted here:
                ...<soap:Body>YOURSTUFFHERE</soap:Body>...
    

"CLOSE"

        This event accepts only one argument: the SOAP::Response object we sent to the handler.

        Calling this event will proceed to close the socket, not sending any output.
    

"STARTLISTEN"

        Starts the listening socket, if it was shut down
    

"STOPLISTEN"

        Simply a wrapper for SHUTDOWN GRACEFUL, but will not shutdown Server::SOAP if there is no more requests
    

"SHUTDOWN"

        Without arguments, Server::SOAP does this:
                Close the listening socket
                Kills all pending requests by closing their sockets
                Removes it's alias

        With an argument of 'GRACEFUL', Server::SOAP does this:
                Close the listening socket
                Waits for all pending requests to come in via DONE/FAULT/CLOSE, then removes it's alias
    

Processing Requests

Now, once you have set up the services/methods, what do you expect from Server::SOAP? Every request is pretty straightforward, you just get a Server::SOAP::Response object in ARG0.

        The Server::SOAP::Response object contains a wealth of information about the specified request:
                - There is the SimpleHTTP::Connection object, which gives you connection information
                - There is the various SOAP accessors provided via Server::SOAP::Response
                - There is the HTTP::Request object

        Example information you can get:
                $response->connection->remote_ip()      # IP of the client
                $response->soaprequest->uri()           # Original URI
                $response->soapmethod()                 # The SOAP method that was called
                $response->soapbody()                   # The arguments to the method

Probably the most important part of SOAP::Response is the body of the message, which contains the arguments to the method call. The data in the body is a hash, for more information look at SOAP::Lite -> SOAP::Deserializer.

I cannot guarantee what will be in the body, it is all up to the SOAP serializer/deserializer. I can provide some examples:

        NOTE: It is much easier to play around with parameters if they are properly encoded.
        If you are using SOAP::Lite, make extensive use of SOAP::Data->name() to create parameters :)

        Calling a SOAP method with no arguments:
                print SOAP::Lite
                        -> uri('http://localhost:32080/')
                        -> proxy('http://localhost:32080/?session=MyServer')
                        -> Sum_Things()
                        -> result

        The body will look like this:
                $VAR1 = undef;

        Calling a SOAP method with multiple arguments:
                print SOAP::Lite
                        -> uri('http://localhost:32080/')
                        -> proxy('http://localhost:32080/?session=MyServer')
                        -> Sum_Things( 8, 6, 7, 5, 3, 0, 9, 183 )
                        -> result

        The body will look like this:
                $VAR1 = {
                        'c-gensym17' => '183',
                        'c-gensym5' => '6',
                        'c-gensym13' => '0',
                        'c-gensym11' => '3',
                        'c-gensym15' => '9',
                        'c-gensym9' => '5',
                        'c-gensym3' => '8',
                        'c-gensym7' => '7'
                };

                NOTE: The original array ordering can be received by sorting on the keys.

        Calling a SOAP method with an arrayref
                print SOAP::Lite
                        -> uri('http://localhost:32080/')
                        -> proxy('http://localhost:32080/?session=MyServer')
                        -> Sum_Things(
                                [ 8, 6, 7, 5, 3, 0, 9, 183 ]
                                )
                        -> result

        The body will look like this:
                $VAR1 = {
                        'Array' => [
                                '8',
                                '6',
                                '7',
                                '5',
                                '3',
                                '0',
                                '9',
                                '183'
                        ]
                };

        Calling a SOAP method with a hash:
                print SOAP::Lite
                        -> uri('http://localhost:32080/')
                        -> proxy('http://localhost:32080/?session=MyServer')
                        -> Sum_Things(  {
                                'FOO'   =>      'bax',
                                'Hello' =>      'World!',
                        }       )
                        -> result

        The body will look like this:
                $VAR1 = {
                        'c-gensym21' => {
                                'Hello' => 'World!',
                                'FOO' => 'bax',
                        }
                };

        Calling a SOAP method using SOAP::Data methods:
                print SOAP::Lite
                        -> uri('http://localhost:32080/')
                        -> proxy('http://localhost:32080/?session=MyServer')
                        -> Sum_Things(
                                SOAP::Data->name( 'Foo', 'harz' ),
                                SOAP::Data->name( 'Param', 'value' ),
                        )-> result

        The body will look like this:
                $VAR1 = {
                        'Param' => 'value',
                        'Foo' => 'harz'
                };

Simply experiment using Data::Dumper and you'll quickly get the hang of it!

When you're done with the SOAP request, stuff whatever output you have into the content of the response object.

        $response->content( 'The result is ... ' );

The only thing left to do is send it off to the DONE event :)

        $_[KERNEL]->post( 'MySOAP', 'DONE', $response );

If there's an error, you can send it to the FAULT event, which will convert it into a SOAP fault.

        # See this website for more details about what "SOAP Fault" is :)
        # http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/NOTE-SOAP-20000508/#_Toc478383507

        $_[KERNEL]->post( 'MySOAP', 'FAULT', $response, 'Client.Authentication', 'Invalid password' );

Server::SOAP Notes

All of the options are uppercase, to avoid confusion.

You can enable debugging mode by doing this:

        sub POE::Component::Server::SOAP::DEBUG () { 1 }
        use POE::Component::Server::SOAP;

In the case you want to see the raw xml being received/sent to the client, set DEBUG to 2.

Yes, I broke a lot of things in the release ( 1.01 ), but Rocco agreed that it's best to break things as early as possible, so that development can move on instead of being stuck on legacy issues.

Using SSL

        POE::Component::Server::SOAP->new(
                ...
                'SIMPLEHTTP'    =>      {
                        'SSLKEYCERT'    =>      [ 'public-key.pem', 'public-cert.pem' ],
                },
        );

        # And that's it provided you've already created the necessary key + certificate file :)

Ah, to use SSL in SOAP::Lite, simply use https://blah.com instead of http://blah.com

Websites

• AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation

  <http://annocpan.org/dist/POE-Component-Server-SOAP>

• CPAN Ratings

  <http://cpanratings.perl.org/d/POE-Component-Server-SOAP>

• RT: CPAN's request tracker

  <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=POE-Component-Server-SOAP>

• Search CPAN

  <http://search.cpan.org/dist/POE-Component-Server-SOAP>

Bugs