I'm evaluating development of a module that will be a consumer of a SOAP Web service. I need to decide whether to use this module or simply the built-in PHP SoapClient class. The service has a comprehensive WSDL file available. I don't think I'd be using Rules directly with SOAP.

There must be some advantage to using this module to consume SOAP services. Otherwise, it wouldn't exist. However, speaking as someone who is new to SOAP and just reading the documentation for this module and looking at code samples, I can't tell what that might be.

Please provide documentation explaining why my module might want to use (or avoid!) this module in order to consume SOAP services.

Comments

DanZ’s picture

DanZ commented

Just to put this request in context, let me explain my use case. I hope that will be useful in targeting the documentation.

I'm considering writing an integration module for the Stamps.com service. This is for printing USPS shipping labels. The services available include (among other things), retrieving account status, buying postage, requesting rates, and retrieving images of shipping labels (for printing). There is a very complex data structure for describing a package. It contains mailing addresses, package weight and dimensions, customs information, shipping class, shipping options, and rates.

I have never written anything for SOAP, but I have Googled around and studied it, including the purpose of a WSDL file. I've read the documentation for the PHP SoapClient class. I've written a couple Drupal modules and made contributions to others. So, I have a fairly good idea of how SOAP and Drupal work. I'm just not sure of the best way to use SOAP services in a Drupal environment.

However, I read the documentation for this module, including the examples, and couldn't figure out why the module exists, although the Rules part sounds like it's probably interesting for some applications. I then lightly browsed the source code, but that didn't help, much. Given that it is used at 785 sites, there must be some reason.

So, there you go. The documentation doesn't help someone like me decide if I should use the module or not.

steven.wichers’s picture

steven.wichers commented

Many Drupal modules are only truly beneficial to people who are more along the lines of site builders than programmers. Contemplate (vs. the easier to use built in theme hooks and files) is a prime example of this, in my opinion. If you have the know-how to create your own modules and work with external services then this may provide no benefit to you. I wouldn't over-think it.