Re: [xml-dev] Handling Multiple Service Responses

[noah_mendelsohn@us.ibm.com]

Fraser Goffin writes:

> I considered just using 2 response types, success
and SOAP Fault, 
> but I think it might be better to reserve SOAP Faults to non 
> business messages that we don't really want a caller to have to be
> concerned with (other than the fact that the invocation failed). 

You are of course free to do this if it meets your needs.
 I do note that the SOAP Primer [1] says:

"The SOAP fault model (see
SOAP Part 1, section 2.6) requires that all
SOAP-specific and application-specific faults be reported using a single
distinguished element, env:Fault,
carried within the env:Body
element. "

Note that this primer is non-normative, and I think the
above advice goes somewhat beyond what a strict reading of the normative
parts of the Recommendation require.  Still, it does signal quite
clearly that the authors of SOAP intended that SOAP Faults be used to reflect
errors insofar as practical.  

Noah

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/soap12-part0/#L11549


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Noah Mendelsohn 
IBM Corporation
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