An interface implemented in XML message format for describing the network services offered by the server.

Use WSDL to create a file that identifies the services provided by the server and the set of operations within each service that the server supports.

For operation, the WSDL file also describes the format that the client must follow in requesting an operation.

In a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) file, there are five primary elements used in defining the network service. They appear in the following order:

  1. <types> element defines the various data types used in exchanging messages.
  2. <message> element describes the messages being communicated.
  3. <portType> element identifies a set of operations and the messages involved with each of those operations.
  4. <binding> element specifies the protocol details for various service operations and describes how to map the abstract content of these messages into a concrete format.
  5. <service> element groups a set of related ports together.

See Also