Differences of ISD WSDL files and SOAP messages between versions 8.5 to 9.1 and version 11.3

You may find differences in the format and syntax of the WSDL files of ISD SOAP Services generated by Information Server versions 8.5 to 9.1 and 11.3. These differences may produce different SOAP request or response messages for the same ISD Service deployed in Information Server versions 8.5 to 9.1 and 11.3. Therefore a SOAP message used in Information Server versions 8.5 to 9.1 might be incompatible and unusable for the same service deployed in Information Server version 11.3.

The differences in the ISD SOAP Service WSDL files and SOAP messages are due to:

Information Server versions 8.5 to 9.1 using JAX-RPC standard (Java™ API for XML-based RPC) to generate the WSDL file for Information Services Director applications. Information Server release 11.3 uses newer technology, JAX-WS (Java API for Web Services). This technology is also supported by WebSphere® Application Server Liberty (Liberty does not support JAX-RPC, which is not actively developed anymore).
Different versions of WebSphere Application Server and also Java versions in Information Server 9.1 and 11.3 could produce different WSDL and Service deployment artifacts.

The move from the JAX-RPC to JAX-WS standard and the different WAS and Java versions could produce WSDL files from an ISD Service deployment that are potentially different between versions 11.3 and 9.1, or previous. Therefore, the SOAP messages generated from the same ISD Applications in Information Server 9.1 and 11.3 could be different and incompatible.

In particular, the following differences may be noted:

When sending a 9.1 SOAP message to version 11.3 of the ISD Service, the message may be rejected with the error "Unexpected wrapper element".
When grouping arguments into a structure and accepting Arrays of structures, in the ISD Service definition, the resulting SOAP message in Information Server 11.3 uses the variable name to define the data structure, rather than the Data Type. The Data Type, even though is defined in the ISD Service definition, is not used in the final SOAP message in Information Server 11.3.
In Information Server version 11.3, the SOAP response data is included within <return> </return> clause, while in previous Information Service versions the clause name includes the name of the function, for example <validateAddressReturn> </validateAddressReturn>.

Additional documentation on the different technologies can be found at https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSAW57_8.0.0/com.ibm.websphere.nd.doc/info/ae/ae/rwbs_migjaxrpc2jaxws.html. You can also find other discussion on the web about the JAX-RPC and JAX-WS standards.

Resolution:

A SOAP message (request or response) for the same ISD Service may have a different syntax in Information Server version 11.3 than version 9.1 or previous. A client application built using the WSDL file from Information Server versions 8.5 to 9.1 will need to be re-generated and recompiled using the WSDL file from Information Server version 11.3, and the Web Service runtime needs to follow the JAX-WS standard used by Information Server version 11.3. However, the client logic will not probably need changes, although some differences in the SOAP messages are expected.