Native XML Web Services overview for Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Learn how to set up and use XML Web Services by using the soap/http in SQL Server 2005 (formerly known as "Yukon"). A related example is also included in the article. To benefit most from this article, you should have a basic understanding of Web services technologies, including HTTP, soap, and WSDL. It includes requirements, HTTP endpoints, creating HTTP endpoints, authentication and security, WSDL, SOAP RPC: Method invocation, Batch processing: ad hoc querying and administration.

Brief introduction

Microsoft®sql server™2005 provides a standard mechanism for using SOAP to access the database engine through HTTP. By using this mechanism, you can send a soap/http request to SQL Server to perform the following:

Transact-SQL batch statement with or without parameters.

Stored procedures, extended stored procedures, and user-defined scalar-valued functions.

Prior to SQL Server 2005, the only mechanism available to connect SQL Server was through a custom binary protocol named Tabular Data Stream (TDS). With soap/http access, we provide an open and relevant document protocol that can be used as a fallback to connect to SQL Server. Provides soap/http access to enable more types of clients to access SQL Server, including the "No Trace Installation" client, because there is no longer a need to install the Microsoft data Access Component (MDAC) stack on client devices to attempt to connect to SQL Server. It facilitates interoperability with. NET, SOAP toolkits, Perl, and more versatile on a variety of platforms. Because the soap/http access mechanism is based on a wide range of widely used technologies such as XML and HTTP, it can inherently facilitate interoperability with SQL Server and access to SQL Server in heterogeneous environments. Any device that can parse XML and submit HTTP requests can now access SQL Server.

Many organizations use heterogeneous environments, where applications running on UNIX and Linux platforms may need to be connected to SQL Server. Previously, the only solution available to such users was to use JDBC or ODBC drivers. Soap/http Access now offers another Low-cost fallback method. This is useful for DBAs who have written scripts running on UNIX to manage SQL Server resources using Perl. This is also useful when developing client applications that use the Smart integrated development environment (IDE), where Soap/http support is built in, such as Microsoft Visual studio®.net or JBuilder, which belongs to this type of IDE. These ides generate specific proxy code that abstracts SQL Server traffic and provides objects that the client application can use. Using Soap/http also enables access to SQL Server anytime, anywhere, making it easier to develop applications for mobile devices or occasionally connected devices. Once a connection is established and the server has started processing requests, you can monitor this by using existing mechanisms on the client on which TDS is based, such as using SqlClient, ODBC, and OLE DB.