Echelon i.LON 100 e2 Internet Server - Manual (Page 12)

i. LON 100 Internet Server Programmer’s Reference 2-1
2 SOAP Messages and the i. LON 100 WSDL File
This chapter contains general information about the SOAP/XML interface you will need to
know before using the SOAP functions described in this manual. It includes the following
major topics:
• i.LON 100 WSDL File. An overview of the i. LON 100 WSDL file, which defines the
SOAP/XML interface. When writing applications to use the SOAP interface, some tools
can import this file and automatically build a class structure for sending and receiving
each message.
• Security. An overview of the security features provided by the i. LON 100 for SOAP
applications.
• Formats of SOAP Messages. As described in Chapter 1, a SOAP message is sent to the
i. LON 100 each time you invoke any of the functions described in this document. This
section describes the formats that must be used for all SOAP messages that are sent to
and from the i. LON 100.
• Writing SOAP Applications. SOAP applications for the i. LON 100 can be divided into
two general groups: those that are written to configure the various applications of the
i. LON 100, and those that are written to perform monitor and control tasks on the
network that the i. LON 100 is attached to. This section sets a road map for you to follow
as you learn how to write each kind of application.
2.1 i. LON 100 WSDL File
Each i. LON 100 includes a WSDL (Web Service Description Language) file. This file defines
the i. LON 100 SOAP/XML interface, and contains all the information an application will
require to use the SOAP/XML interface. When writing applications to use the SOAP
interface, some tools can import the WSDL file and automatically build a class structure for
sending and receiving each message. The WSDL file is compatible with numerous
programming development environments, such as Microsoft Visual Studio .NET ®.
See Chapter 14,
Using the SOAP Interface as a Web Service, for more detailed information the WSDL file.
Chapter 14 contains step-by-step instructions you can follow when you reference the version
1.1 WSDL file with a Microsoft Visual Basic .NET project.
2.2 Security
You can add a basic level of security to the i. LON 100 SOAP/XML interface with the i. LON
100 Web Server Security and Parameters utility. Use this utility to add password protection
to all web content served by the
i. LON 100. Basic Access Authentication is the security
mechanism used by the i. LON 100 web server for HTTP transactions. Basic Access
Authentication is described by the IETF in RFC 2617:
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617.txt
If you want all SOAP messages sent to your i. LON 100 to be authenticated, use the i. LON
100 Web Server Security and Parameters utility to password protect the i. LON 100 WSDL
file at this path in the Web server: /WSDL/iLON100.WSDL.
A user name and password will then be required each time a SOAP message is sent to the
i. LON 100. Since SOAP uses HTTP as a transport, you can use the user name and password
pair for an entire HTTP session. As a result, you can use a single username and password to