Welcome to the Cisco PSS API Developer's Guide. PSS APIs are solely for the use of qualified Cisco Partners registered for the Partner Support Service (PSS) API program.
PSS offers APIs for:
Before constructing a SOAP message and ultimately calling a web service, some details about the web service must first be obtained. This is accomplished by looking up the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) that describes the service. A WSDL is an XML-based document that contains elements that describe how to locate and connect to a service. In addition, it describes all of the operations a service provides, along with parameters and data types. The WSDL also defines the XML schema that is used to validate the service"s SOAP request and response.
The Web Application Description Language (WADL) is an XML-based file format that provides a machine-readable description of HTTP-based web applications. These applications are typically REST web services. The purpose of WADL is to allow services on the Internet (or any other IP network) to be described in a machine processable way, to make it easier to create Web 2.0 style applications and create a dynamic way of creating and configuring services. WADL can be thought of as the REST equivalent of Web Services Description Language version 1.1. Version 2.0 of WSDL can be used to describe REST Web services.
The WADL is intended for applications that are based on the existing architecture of the Web. Like WSDL, it is platform and language independent and aims to promote re-use of applications beyond the basic use in a web browser. WADL models the resources provided by a service, and the relationships between them.
The service is described using a set of resource elements. Each of these contain elements to describe the service, and method elements which describe the request and response of a resource. The request element specifies how to represent the type of parameters required and any specific HTTP headers that are required. The response describes the representation and any fault information, to deal with errors.
WADL has the advantage over the more complicated WSDL in that it does not impose any further level of abstraction on the service description.
The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is an XML-based protocol that is structured to exchange information between a web service and its clients. The body of the SOAP request contains the service operation for which the request is intended and the parameters that are passed to that operation. The rest of the SOAP message can contain customizable header information and attachments. The SOAP response contains the output from the service operation specified in the request.
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