An endpoint listener is a web service-enabled
entry point to one
or more service integration buses. An endpoint listener carries requests
and responses between web service clients and buses.
An endpoint
listener is the point (address) at which incoming SOAP messages
for a web service are received by a service integration bus. Each
endpoint
listener supports a particular binding. Endpoint listeners are supplied
with
WebSphere® Application Server for the following bindings:
- SOAP over HTTP.
- SOAP over JMS.
By
using
the wsadmin tool, you can also create an endpoint
listener configuration for your own endpoint listener, rather than
for one
of the listeners that is supplied with
WebSphere Application Server.
A request arrives
at an endpoint listener. It is passed to an inbound port,
at which point security and JAX-RPC handler lists can be applied,
then sent
on to the service destination. Responses follow the same path in reverse.
The endpoint listener acts as the ultimate receiver of a SOAP message.
The resulting messages that pass across the service integration bus
are not
then SOAP messages, rather just the data and context that resulted
from receiving
the SOAP message.
You can set up separate endpoint listeners
for (for example) requests from your internal users and requests from
your
external users. Each endpoint listener is associated with a specific
server, a specific
set of service integration buses
and (through inbound ports) a specific set of web services. By
restricting access to an
endpoint listener, you can give
different user groups access to different services. For example:
- To give users inside your organization access to
the full
range of internal and external services, you can make those services
available
through one endpoint listener.
- To give users outside your
organization access to those internal services
that you choose to publish externally, you can make those services
also available
through another endpoint listener.