XMethods Private UDDI Registry

The XMethods site sits on top of a V1/V2 compliant UDDI private registry, powered by Glue from  webMethods.  The registry supports both inquiry and publication operations, allowing publishers to submit and maintain listings via standard UDDI tools.

By "private" we mean that the registry is an independent UDDI node not connected to the network of UDDI public nodes maintained by IBM, Microsoft, et al.

Data updates initiated via the UDDI registry are automatically reflected on the website.  Data updates initiated on the website through the web forms are likewise automatically reflected in the registry.  In other words, the two are kept synchronized in real time.

The Registry Endpoints

Notes on the Relationship between UDDI and XMethods Entities

• The primary business names found in the registry are the same as XMethods account ID's.   Thus, all business names are unique within the registry. 
• XMethods listings have a 1 to 1 correspondence with UDDI tModels (rather than a UDDI service). 
• On detail pages, a list of endpoint URL's appears..  These endpoints correspond to the URL's found in UDDI BindingTemplates that referene the tModel. 
• Although the web interface does not currently allow it, it is actually possible to have many different users publish endpoint implementations on a single XMethods listing, where the WSDL of the listing defines the abstract interface.  So the mapping of an XMethods listing to a UDDI tModel (rather than a UDDI service) makes sense.
• The "key" displayed for an XMethods listing on the detail page is actually the UDDI tModel key.

How to Publish and Maintain A Listing via UDDI

This writeup assumes some familiarity with UDDI.  For more information on UDDI, consult the UDDI.org website.

Step 1: Create an XMethods account	Your XMethods user ID and password are used for all UDDI operations that require authentication.
Step 2: Create a new TModel	Name it as you would like the XMethods Listing to be named. Classify it using the wsdlSpec UDDI tModel type, per the UDDI WSDL best practices document. Set the overview URL to the WSDL document.  Give it a value of form "http://wsdlURL.com/my.wsdl#bindingName"  to indicate the SOAP binding name for this tModel (A UDDI tModel refers to a specific binding found in a WSDL). The XMethods listings hold a number of extra pieces of information that don't natively exist in the UDDI data model. We use a simple technique of labeling these pieces of data with prefix tags and holding the data as regular descriptions.  Anyone browsing the UDDI registry through regular UDDI interfaces will be able to see and understand the descriptions in their proper context. To specify a one-line short description , add a description to the tModel with the prefix "SHORT DESCRIPTION: "  .  For example, "SHORT DESCRIPTION: Interface for AltaVista's Babelfish service."    To optionally specify the detailed description, add a description to the tModel, prefixed by the string "DETAILED DESCRIPTION: " To optionally specify the usage notes, add a description to the tModel, prefixed by the string "USAGE NOTES: " To optionally specify a listing homepage, add a description to the tModel, prefixed by the string "HOMEPAGE URL: "
Step 3: Create a new Business Service	Give the business service a name.  For simplicity, you can give the service the same name as the tModel you just created, though this is not required.  To optionally specify the contact email for the service, add a description to the Business Service, prefixed by the string "CONTACT EMAIL: "    To optionally specify the soap implementation  used for the service, add a description to the Business Service, prefixed by the string "IMPLEMENTATION: "  .  Use the XMethods ID for the implementation, found on the implementation detail pages.  For example, to specify that a service is implemented via Apache SOAP use the description "IMPLEMENTATION: apachesoap"   where the implementation id is determined by looking at  the Apache SOAP  implementation detail page .   Specify a new binding template as part of the business service creation. 1. Set the endpoint for the Business Service as the Binding's AccessPoint 2. Set the tModel key of the tModel created in (A) using the tModelInstanceDetails element 3. Set the service key to the UUID of the business service created in (B).

Once the tModel and service are saved, you have completed the process of submitting a new listing.  As is the case with submission of listings through the traditional web forms, the listing must be approved by XMethods before it appears on the site.  However, the listing will be immediately visible in the UDDI registry. 

Subsequent modifications to data elements of the tModel, binding template, and/or business service are reflected immediately in the XMethods listings website.