Web services are business functions that operate over the Web. They describe a collection of operations that are network accessible through standardized XML messaging. The PowerCenter Web Services Provider lets you integrate the PowerCenter metadata and data integration functionalities and expose them as web services. You can write applications that can communicate with Integration Services in any language or platform. You can embed these applications easily in existing components and products.

Web services are based on open standards, such as XML, SOAP, and WSDL, which offer greater interoperability than traditional proprietary applications.

Examples of web services include business services, such as stock quotes, airline schedules, and credit checks.

The components that enable web services include:

To build a web service client for the PowerCenter Web Services Provider, you select the web service you want to interface with and retrieve the WSDL for the selected web service. Use a web service tool kit such as Axis to generate the client proxies. The client proxies contain all of the function calls required to interact with a web service.

You can determine what functions a web service offers, the data the web service requires, and the location of the service by examining the WSDL. The WSDL describes the web service interfaces and the operations available for the service. Use the information in the WSDL to build a client application to use the services.

The following figure shows the building blocks of a web service: