Validation

Validation of web serviceClosed XML- or JSON-based information exchange systems that use the Internet for direct application-to-application interaction. These systems can include programs, objects, messages, or documents. requests is complex and covers the following:

  • Correctness of request structure
  • Completeness of request structure (provision of mandatory fields)
  • Parameter type and length checking
  • Static business logic rules (consistency of data)
  • Setup-specific business rules

Optional Schema-Level Request Validation

MDS Global web services can have their requests pre-validated for semantic correctness by a separate servlet sitting on the web services server. The validation servlet parses the incoming request (SOAP/XMLClosed Exstensible Markup Language. A markup language used to describe data that allows users to define their information formats, especially in order to display documents on the Internet.) against a collection of known schemas. The servlet is optional and can be bypassed, though it is useful during development and testing of the web services client. However, the error message content returned by servlet can be technical and does not describe or elaborate exactly why a request is invalid. The validation servlet performs only semantic checking of the request. A request satisfying the validation servlet can fail for business logic reasons later.

Basic Field Validation

All MDS Global web services perform basic field type and length checking where possible. This is done mostly in the CMPClosed Converged Monetisation Platform. The MDS Global product that supports customer care and billing for digital service providers. services layer, although complex operations such as order processing can perform multiple invocations in the services layer to pre-validate the data.

Data Type Validation

The JavaClosed A widely used object-oriented programming language that is designed for use in the distributed environment of the internet. It is the most popular programming language for Android smartphone applications APIClosed Application Programming Interface. A set of functions and procedures that allow the creation of applications that access the features or data of another software system, such as an application or operating system. for XML Web Services - or JAX-WSClosed Java API for XML Web Services. A Java programming language application interface for creating web services, particularly SOAP web services. - is a Java programing language API for creating web services, particularly Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) web services, such as the MDS Global web services. By default, JAX-WS does not perform data type validation against incoming requests. To minimise server overhead, data type validation is not enabled for CMP web services. It is assumed that all data type validation is performed on the calling client prior to the request being made. CMP web services performs only business rules validation. Data type validation can be performed using the supplied WSDLs and associated XSDs. Supplying invalid data in the request can result in data loss or corruption in cases where business rules validation is not performed, for example for optional date fields.

Business Logic Validation

There are two types of business logic rules:

  • Static rules that ensure consistency with the CMP data model
  • Setup-based rules that can change depending on CMP configuration

In general, CMP web services attempt to validate against both types before processing the request but the multiple ways in which setup can alter business logic means that this is not always possible. In these cases, an appropriate error messages detailing the processing fault is generated.