Optional Message Parts in WSDL

Question

In my wsdl:message i got two parameters, firstname and lastname:

<message name="setName">
  <part name="firstname" type="xsd:string"></part>
  <part name="lastname" type="xsd:string"></part>
</message>

I want to define the "firstname" part as required, and the "lastname" part as optional. How do i do that?

score 17 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 24 '12 at 13:16

17

In WSDL parts can not be optional. They are always required. If you need optional parts, you will have to create one part that refers to a XSD complexType that then can have optional elements.

answered Jan 24 '12 at 13:16

Tina

202
2
3

5

Example ? Nobody which is new to this topic can understand what you mean – Pwnstar Apr 11 '17 at 07:18
Example can be found here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21179098/soap-ws-make-webparam-optional/21181974 – Jonas_Hess Oct 27 '20 at 14:20

user8675 · Answer 2 · 2016-06-14T11:17:58.900

5

You can add nullable to lastname, so firstname is required:

<message name="setName">
    <part name="firstname" type="xsd:string"></part>
    <part name="lastname" xsi:nil="true" type="xsd:string"></part>
</message>

If you do so, your soap body look like this (empty or filled lastname):

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:user="http://www.example.com/MyService/">
   <soapenv:Header/>
   <soapenv:Body>
      <user:setName>
         <firstname>John</firstname>
         <lastname></lastname>
      </user:setName>
   </soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>

Or even without lastname:

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:user="http://www.example.com/MyService/">
   <soapenv:Header/>
   <soapenv:Body>
      <user:setName>
         <firstname>John</firstname>
      </user:setName>
   </soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>

edited Jun 14 '16 at 11:17

answered Jun 14 '16 at 11:11

user8675

657
6
13

You will have to add the namespace definition `xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"` to your WSDL for `xsi:nil` to be understood. – xhienne Oct 23 '18 at 01:15
W/o lastname, does not seem to work, at least using Apache CXF. – Laurent Grégoire Jul 01 '19 at 13:56
Is it OK to write ``, or do you have to write `` ? – slowhand Jul 16 '21 at 16:23

Optional Message Parts in WSDL

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