Frequently Asked Questions
Following is the display of frequently asked questions with corresponding answers.
| 1. What is an API? |
| An API is an Application Programming Interface, which is used synonomously with Web Sevices. |
| 2. What are Web Services? |
| Web Services arose from the recognition for application to application communications, to enable any application to communicate or interoperate with any other application, without regard to the underlying operating systems, programming languages or other implementation details. In this way, Web Services provide the "user interface" for applications to talk to other applications, much the same way HTML/HTTP provided the user interface for user to application communications for Web applications. |
| 3. What is the difference between a Component and a Method? |
| A Web Service “Component” is a collection of web services. This corresponds to the Object concept of Object-Oriented Programming, but just its interface, not the actual data. And a Web Service “Method” is the actual Web Service itself. A component may have many methods, or it may have only one, but there is always at least one method. Each method is a Web Service. The user of that service provides input data in the call and the method operates on the input data. |
| 4. What is The difference between SOAP and REST? |
| Much as the Web application model has been built on a relatively simple
foundation of core standards, namely HTML and HTTP, Web Services are similarly based on a relatively
simple technology foundation. Thus, we can define Web Services as a set of industry standards that
enable platform and implementation independent application to application communications.
Today, the core Web Services standards consist of the following industry standard technologies. SOAP is the Simple Object Access Protocol which provides an XML encoding for applications to actually exchange messages to pass data from application to application. When the messages are sent, a SOAP client uses the WSDL configuration file to encode the request (and decode the response) in the format the WSDL specifies. This encoding and decoding process is the SOAP protocol. SOAP requests are made utilizing XML. REST is the Representational State Transfer protocol is a newer protocol than SOAP that doesn’t require a WSDL configuration file. It has been implemented, as an alternate path of entry, in case a client can’t make SOAP work. REST utilizes JSON. JSON is JavaScript Object Notation is a newer serialization standard than XML that has less structural overhead. Some SBA Web Services use JSON to distinguish multiple inputs without having to change the WSDL file, for example. But if any such inputs pass critical information, such as loan data, that information can still be serialized the safe way, with XML. |
| 5. Do all of CAFS web services require two-factor authentication? |
| Yes, all CAFS web services require two-factor authentication. The registered user will receive a PIN over text message or email according to their CLS profile setting. |
| 6. How to view the full content of xsd? |
| To view the full content, you must right click the page and select "View Page Source". |