Delphi XE2 XML And SOAP Web Services
Delphi XE2 is a powerful development tool that allows programmers to create applications that can work with XML and SOAP web services. XML and SOAP are standards for exchanging data and invoking remote procedures over the internet. Web services are applications that expose their functionality through XML and SOAP interfaces, which can be accessed by other applications or clients.
Delphi XE2 XML And SOAP Web Services.pdf
In this article, we will review some of the features and capabilities of Delphi XE2 for XML and SOAP web services development. We will also refer to a courseware manual by Dr. Bob Swart, a renowned Delphi expert and trainer, who covers this topic in depth in his book [Delphi XE2 XML, SOAP and Web Services Development].
XML Programming with Delphi XE2
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a widely used format for representing structured data in a human-readable and machine-processable way. XML documents consist of elements, attributes, text, comments, and other components that follow a set of rules and syntax. XML documents can also be validated against schemas, which define the structure and constraints of the data.
Delphi XE2 provides several classes and components for working with XML documents, such as:
TXMLDocument: A component that represents an XML document in memory. It supports both DOM (Document Object Model) and SAX (Simple API for XML) interfaces for manipulating and parsing XML data.
TXMLDataBinding: A wizard that generates Delphi classes based on an XML schema or document. These classes can be used to access and modify the data in an object-oriented way.
TXMLTransform: A component that applies XSLT (eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) to an XML document. XSLT is a language for transforming XML data into other formats, such as HTML, text, or other XML documents.
TXMLTransformProvider: A component that connects a TXMLTransform component to a TClientDataSet component, which can be used to display and edit the transformed data in a grid or other data-aware controls.
TXMLMapper: A tool that allows the user to define mappings between XML nodes and fields in a dataset. The tool can also generate XSLT files based on the mappings.
Dr. Bob Swart's courseware manual provides many examples and exercises on how to use these components and tools effectively. He also explains the concepts and techniques of XML programming, such as namespaces, schemas, validation, XPath, XQuery, and more.
SOAP Web Services with Delphi XE2
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a protocol for exchanging structured information between applications over the internet. SOAP messages are encoded in XML and follow a predefined format that consists of an envelope, a header, and a body. SOAP messages can be transported over various protocols, such as HTTP, SMTP, or TCP/IP.
WSDL (Web Services Description Language) is a language for describing the functionality and interface of a web service. WSDL documents are also written in XML and contain information about the operations, parameters, types, bindings, and locations of a web service.
Delphi XE2 allows developers to create and consume SOAP web services easily, using the following features:
SOAP Server Application Wizard: A wizard that creates a project template for a SOAP web service server application. The wizard allows the user to choose the type of server application (such as VCL Forms, Console, Windows Service, or ISAPI), the type of communication framework (such as Indy or DataSnap), and the name of the web service.
SOAP Server Interface Unit: A unit that contains the interface declaration of the web service. The interface defines the methods, parameters, and return types of the web service operations. The interface can be annotated with attributes that specify additional information about the web service, such as namespaces, names, styles, or roles.
SOAP Server Implementation Unit: A unit that contains the implementation of the web service interface. The implementation provides the logic and functionality of the web service operations. The implementation can also use other Delphi classes or components to access databases, files, or other resources.
WSDL Importer: A tool that generates a Delphi interface unit based on a WSDL document. The tool can import WSDL documents from local files or remote URLs. The generated unit can be used to create a SOAP client application that can invoke the web service operations.
SOAP Client Component: A component that represents a SOAP client that can communicate with a SOAP web service. The component can be configured with the URL of the WSDL document or the SOAP server, and the name of the web service interface. The component can also handle authentication, encryption, compression, or other options for the SOAP communication.
Dr. Bob Swart's courseware manual demonstrates how to use these features and tools to create and consume SOAP web services with Delphi XE2. He also covers topics such as SOAP faults, SOAP headers, SOAP attachments, SOAP encoding, and more.
Conclusion
Delphi XE2 is a versatile and powerful tool for XML and SOAP web services development. It provides a rich set of classes, components, wizards, and tools that simplify and enhance the programming experience. It also supports various standards and technologies that enable interoperability and compatibility with other platforms and languages.
If you are interested in learning more about Delphi XE2 XML and SOAP web services development, we recommend you to check out Dr. Bob Swart's courseware manual, which is available in PDF format [here].
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