Pass SOAP messages with attachments using WSIF

W3C SOAP Messages with Attachments describes a standard way to associate a SOAP message with one or more attachments in their native format (for example GIF or JPEG) by using a multipart MIME structure for transport. It defines specific usage of the Multipart/Related MIME media type and rules for the usage of URI references to see entities bundled within the MIME package. It outlines a technique for a SOAP 1.1 message to be carried within a MIME multipart/related message in such a way that the SOAP processing rules for a standard SOAP message are not changed.

WSIF supports passing attachments in a MIME message using the SOAP provider. For more information, see Use the SOAP provider. The attachment is a javax.activation.DataHandler. The mime:multipartRelated, mime:part and mime:content tags are used to describe the attachment in the WSDL.

For more information, see the following topics:

• SOAP messages with attachments - writing the WSDL extensions.
• SOAP messages with attachments - passing attachments to WSIF.
• SOAP messages with attachments - types and type mappings.

These scenarios are not supported:

• Using DIME.
• Passing in javax.xml.transform.Source and javax.mail.internet.MimeMultipart.
• Using the mime:mimeXml WSDL tag.
• Nesting a mime:multipartRelated inside a mime:part.
• Using types that extend DataHandler, Image, and so forth.
• Using types that contain DataHandler, Image, and so forth.
• Using Arrays or Vectors of DataHandlers, Images, and so forth.
• Using multiple in/out or output attachments.

The MIME headers from the incoming message are not preserved for referenced attachments. The outgoing message contains new MIME headers for Content-Type, Content-Id and Content-Transfer-Encoding that are created by WSIF.