Xml Vs Soap?

[weronpc]

I need to send data from on machine to another, they are not Web servers

My team lead suggest to sent the data in SOAP format, I was wondering what is the advantage to send data in SOAP format when it's not Web (or web services)? Should I just sent it in normal XML file (without SOAP format, like envelope tag).


Any suggestion is welcome.

Thank you,

Mike

[yrwyddfa]

I don't know what the state of SOAP is with .NET Web services et al, but you could certainly use native XML to send information.

XML is, after all, only a file, and you can send files across thread,process,machines, and network boundaries.

If it's simply copying data from one machines to another I'd look into FTP. If you are trying to replicate some form of COM communication then;

(1) I would use COM
(2) If it's not a web server you'll need to create your own TCP Send/Receive software
(3) use SOAP

If you had a webserver you'd be able to create ASP pages that could accept a stream of bytes (your XML) and process them accordingly. But as you said, it isn't.

[techgnome]

From what I remember (which may or may not be quite right) SOAP can be transactionaly based, while flat XML isn't. SOAP has stricter standards as far as formatting goes, so you can be guaranteed that the data is in the right format when you get it. Just because something isn't avail to the internet, doesn't mean it isn't (or can't be) a web service. It's the method of access. It's still possible to access it via HTTP internaly over an intranet. It depends on how you plan to send & recieve requests to the object.


Tg

[yrwyddfa]

From what I remember (which may or may not be quite right) SOAP can be transactionaly based, while flat XML isn't. SOAP has stricter standards as far as formatting goes, so you can be guaranteed that the data is in the right format when you get it. Just because something isn't avail to the internet, doesn't mean it isn't (or can't be) a web service. It's the method of access. It's still possible to access it via HTTP internaly over an intranet. It depends on how you plan to send & recieve requests to the object.


Tg

Yes, I agree.

You can promote stricter standards with XML by using schemas which should validate the XML for you.

As for transactions, it is a pain in the @rse to perform strict two-phase commit yourself, so if this is a priority, then look to SOAP.

You can, of course, implement transactions in a distributed manner using COM+