XML Interface for Network Services

The specification-oriented approach is at the heart of XINS:

• first specifications need to be written;
• then documentation and code is generated from these specifications;
• then both testing and implementation can start.

From specifications, XINS is able to generate:

• HTML documentation
• test forms
• SOAP-compliant WSDL
• a basic Java web application
• unit test code (in Java)
• stubs (in Java)
• client-side code (in Java)

Technically, XINS is composed of the following:

• An XML-based specification format for projects, APIs, functions, types and error codes
• A POX-style RPC protocol (called the XINS Standard Calling Convention), compatible with web browsers (HTTP parameters in, XML out).
• A tool for generating human-readable documentation, from the specifications.
• A tool for generating WSDL, from the specifications.
• A Log4J-based technology for logging (called Logdoc), offering a specification format, internationalization of log messages, generation of HTML documentation and generation of code.
• A Java library for calling XINS functions, the XINS/Java Client Framework; in xins-client.jar.
• A server-side container for Java-based XINS API implementations, the XINS/Java Server Framework; in xins-server.jar. This is like a servlet container for XINS APIs.
• A Java library with some common functionality, used by both the XINS/Java Client Framework and the XINS/Java Server Framework: the XINS/Java Common Library, in xins-common.jar.

An introductory tutorial called the [http://xins.sourceforge.net/primers/primer.html XINS Primer] takes the reader by the hand with easy-to-follow steps to perform, with screenshots.

Since version 1.3.0, the XINS/Java Server Framework supports not only POX-style calls, but also SOAP and XML-RPC. And it supports conversion using XSLT. As of version 2.0, it also supports JSON and JSON-RPC.

XINS is open-source and is distributed under the liberal BSD license.{{Cite web |title=XML API |url=https://documentation.nokia.com/nsp/24-4/XML_API_Developer_Guide/ai8g9djcza.html |website=Nokia Documentation Centre}}

All XINS specification files are Plain Old XML. Compared to SOAP/WSDL/UDDI/etc. the format is extremely simple. There are specifications for projects, environment lists, APIs, functions, types and error codes.

Below is an example of a XINS project definition.

Here is an example of a specification of an environment list:

An example of an API specification file:

My first XINS API

An example of a function definition:

Greets the indicated person.

The name of the person to be greeted.

The constructed greeting.

The XINS Standard Calling Convention is a simple HTTP-based RPC protocol. Input consists of HTTP parameters, while output is an XML document. This approach makes it compatible with plain Web browsers.

Example of a request:

http://somehost/someapi/?_convention=_xins-std&_function=SayHello&firstName=John&lastName=Doe{{dead link|date=July 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Example of a successful response:

Hello John Doe!

There are no known products that provide an integrated approach to specification-oriented development, similar to XINS. However, there are several frameworks and libraries that provide functionality similar to individual parts of XINS, including:

• JWSDP: Collection of various XML and SOAP technologies for the Java programming language.
• Apache Axis: Java-based framework for SOAP implementations.
• Codehaus XFire: Idem.
• Hessian Web Service Protocol: Binary alternative to the XINS Standard Calling Convention.{{Cite web |date=November 6, 2004 |title=XINS : XML Interface for Network Services |url=https://bact.cc/2004/xins-xml-interface-for-network-services/ |access-date= |website=Bact' is a name |language=en-GB}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://xins.sourceforge.net/ XINS website]
• [http://xins.sourceforge.net/faq.html Frequently Asked Questions]

Category:Internet protocols

Category:Java (programming language) libraries

Category:XML-based standards

Category:Web services

Category:Web service specifications