The SOAP Interface

The Spectrum™ Technology Platform server provides access to services using SOAP in document/literal mode. Document/literal web services are the WS-I compliant format for web services.

To view the SOAP web services available on your Spectrum™ Technology Platform server, go to:

http://server:port/soap

Note: By default Spectrum™ Technology Platform uses port 8080 for HTTP communication. Your administrator may have configured a different port.

WSDL URL

The WSDL for a Spectrum™ Technology Platform web service is:

http://server:port/soap/service_name?wsdl

https://OnDemandServer/soap/service_name?wsdl

For a list of Spectrum™ Technology Platform servers, see Connecting to Spectrum Technology Platform Servers.

For example:

http://myserver:8080/soap/ValidateAddress?wsdl

https://spectrum.pitneybowes.com/soap/ValidateAddress?wsdl

The web service model is a generic model for all services. The WSDL for any Spectrum™ Technology Platform web service contains the same definition of data types and operations. What differentiates the WSDL is the target service and the values (options and data) provided at runtime.

Note: We may add new fields or options at any time without notice. New elements are always optional so you will not have to modify your code to accommodate them unless you want to use them. If we delete fields or options we will communicate the changes to you in advance so that you have time to update your code.

Important: Do not validate web service responses against the WSDL. Spectrum™ Technology Platform WSDLs are designed to be extended over time, so all elements in the WSDL are optional. This means that validating a response against the WSDL produces no useful results.

User Fields

You can pass extra fields through the web service even if the web service does not use them. These fields are returned, unmodified, in the <user_fields> element of the response. For example, this request contains a user field named id with a value of 5:

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:val="http://www.pb.com/spectrum/services/ValidateAddress">
   <soapenv:Header/>
   <soapenv:Body>
      <val:ValidateAddressRequest>
         <val:input_port>
            <val:Address>
               <val:AddressLine1>3001 summer</val:AddressLine1>
               <val:City>stamford</val:City>
               <val:StateProvince>ct</val:StateProvince>
                <val:user_fields>
                  <val:user_field>
                     <val:name>id</val:name>
                     <val:value>5</val:value>
                  </val:user_field>
               </val:user_fields>
            </val:Address>
         </val:input_port>
      </val:ValidateAddressRequest>
   </soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>

The user field is returned, unmodified, in the response:

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
   <soap:Body>
      <ns3:ValidateAddressResponse xmlns:ns2="http://spectrum.pb.com/" xmlns:ns3="http://www.pb.com/spectrum/services/ValidateAddress">
         <ns3:output_port>
            <ns3:Address>
               <ns3:Confidence>86</ns3:Confidence>
               <ns3:RecordType>HighRise</ns3:RecordType>
               <ns3:RecordType.Default>Y</ns3:RecordType.Default>
               <ns3:CountryLevel>A</ns3:CountryLevel>
               <ns3:ProcessedBy>USA</ns3:ProcessedBy>
               <ns3:MatchScore>0</ns3:MatchScore>
               <ns3:AddressLine1>3001 Summer St</ns3:AddressLine1>
               <ns3:City>Stamford</ns3:City>
               <ns3:StateProvince>CT</ns3:StateProvince>
               <ns3:PostalCode>06905-4317</ns3:PostalCode>
               <ns3:PostalCode.Base>06905</ns3:PostalCode.Base>
               <ns3:PostalCode.AddOn>4317</ns3:PostalCode.AddOn>
               <ns3:Country>United States Of America</ns3:Country>
               <ns3:AdditionalInputData.Base/>
               <ns3:POBoxOnlyDeliveryZone/>
               <ns3:user_fields>
                  <ns3:user_field>
                     <ns3:name>id</ns3:name>
                     <ns3:value>5</ns3:value>
                  </ns3:user_field>
               </ns3:user_fields>
            </ns3:Address>
         </ns3:output_port>
      </ns3:ValidateAddressResponse>
   </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

Note: User field names may not contain characters that are invalid in XML element names. For example, spaces are not valid.

Sample SOAP Request

The following sample SOAP request calls the ValidateAddress service. The sections for options and rows are all dependent on the metadata for that particular web service; therefore, different components will have different metadata entries. Additionally, there is a user_fields section that allows you to pass in field values that will be returned, unmodified, in the response.

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:val="http://www.pb.com/spectrum/services/ValidateAddress">
   <soapenv:Header/>
   <soapenv:Body>
      <val:ValidateAddressRequest>
         <val:options>
            <val:OutputFormattedOnFail>Y</val:OutputFormattedOnFail>
         </val:options>
         <val:input_port>
            <val:Address>
               <val:AddressLine1>1525B Kramer Lane</val:AddressLine1>
               <val:AddressLine2>Suite 100</val:AddressLine2>
               <val:PostalCode>78758</val:PostalCode>
            </val:Address>
         </val:input_port>
      </val:ValidateAddressRequest>
   </soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>

Sample SOAP Response

The sample request above would return the following response.

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
   <soap:Body>
      <ns3:ValidateAddressResponse xmlns:ns2="http://spectrum.pb.com/" xmlns:ns3="http://www.pb.com/spectrum/services/ValidateAddress">
         <ns3:output_port>
            <ns3:Address>
               <ns3:Confidence>88</ns3:Confidence>
               <ns3:RecordType>Normal</ns3:RecordType>
               <ns3:CountryLevel>A</ns3:CountryLevel>
               <ns3:ProcessedBy>USA</ns3:ProcessedBy>
               <ns3:MatchScore>0</ns3:MatchScore>
               <ns3:AddressLine1>1525B Kramer Ln Ste 100</ns3:AddressLine1>
               <ns3:City>Austin</ns3:City>
               <ns3:StateProvince>TX</ns3:StateProvince>
               <ns3:PostalCode>78758-4227</ns3:PostalCode>
               <ns3:PostalCode.Base>78758</ns3:PostalCode.Base>
               <ns3:PostalCode.AddOn>4227</ns3:PostalCode.AddOn>
               <ns3:Country>United States Of America</ns3:Country>
               <ns3:user_fields/>
            </ns3:Address>
         </ns3:output_port>
      </ns3:ValidateAddressResponse>
   </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>