WSDL file of a SOAP web service
To obtain the WSDL (Web Services Description Language) file of a SOAP web service, you typically use a URL provided by the web service itself. The WSDL file describes the web service’s operations, messages, bindings, and location, enabling clients to understand how to interact with the service.

Table of Contents
Steps to Get the WSDL File
- 1. Â Explanation :
- The WSDL file serves as a contract between the web service provider and consumers, detailing the operations, input/output parameters, and protocols used (e.g., SOAP).
- Clients use the WSDL file to generate necessary client-side artifacts (e.g., stubs, proxies) to interact with the web service.
- 2. Â Accessing the WSDL File :
- The WSDL file is typically accessible via a URL provided by the web service endpoint. You can append ?wsdl to the endpoint URL to retrieve the WSDL dynamically.
- 3. Â Example :
- Suppose you have a SOAP web service running at http://localhost:8080/ws/calculator. To obtain its WSDL file, you would access http://localhost:8080/ws/calculator?wsdl in a web browser or through a programmatic request.
Example in Java
Here’s a Java example demonstrating how to programmatically retrieve the WSDL file using javax.xml.ws.Endpoint.
Syntax
java
import javax.xml.ws.Endpoint;
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;
public class WsdlRetrievalExample {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String endpointUrl = "http://localhost:8080/ws/calculator";
String wsdlUrl = endpointUrl + "?wsdl";
try {
// Convert string URL to URL object
URL url = new URL(wsdlUrl);
// Print the WSDL URL
System.out.println("WSDL URL: " + wsdlUrl);
// Optionally, you can download the WSDL file programmatically if needed
// Example of downloading the WSDL file
// InputStream wsdlStream = url.openStream();
// Read or save the content of wsdlStream as needed
} catch (MalformedURLException e) {
System.err.println("Invalid URL: " + e.getMessage());
}
}
}
Explanation
- URL Construction : The endpointUrl variable holds the base URL of the SOAP web service. By appending ?wsdl, you construct the URL to retrieve the WSDL file (wsdlUrl).
- URL Object : The URL class from java.net package is used to represent the URL and provides methods to open a connection to the URL (url.openStream() can be used to read the WSDL content).
- Downloading WSDL : The commented-out section demonstrates how you could download the WSDL file programmatically if needed.
This example showcases how to dynamically obtain the WSDL file URL and access its content, which is crucial for clients to understand the web service’s structure and operations.