Depending on the web service, you can submit an HTTP request to a Spectrum Spatial web service in one of the following forms:
- a SOAP request
- a REST request
- a POST/GET request
SOAP is short for Simple Object Access Protocol. A SOAP request message must be in the XML format that is defined by the SOAP specification.
REST is short for Representational State Transfer. A REST request message is contained in the query string parameters of an HTTP request.
A POST/GET request message can be structured either as query string parameters submitted via HTTP GET, or as an XML-formatted message submitted via HTTP POST. The XML-formatted message is identical to a regular SOAP request, but with the SOAP XML wrapper removed.
Many of the web services can accept requests in more than one form. For example, the Feature Service can accept either a SOAP request or a REST request. Some services, however, can accept a request in only one form. For example, the Map Tiling Service can accept only a REST request, and the Web Map Service can accept only a POST/GET request.
The following table lists the types of request that each web service can accept.