When to use complex types and when to use elements in creating wsdl files?

[raminaa niilian]

Hi
Thank you for reading my post.
When we create XSD files, we can create elements and also we can create complextypes.
for example we can create an student type as an element or as a complex type and then I can use it to create WSDL documents (methods input and outputs).

What I can not undestand is the differences between using Elements and ComplexType in creating custom types like student and also I can not undestand what is differences between using a complexType or element to build a wsdl file.


Thanks

[Peer Reynders]

It depends on the mode of messaging that you use.

For RPC/literal you use complex types in the WSDL message-part because the SOAP body content isn't a top level element out of the WSDL types (XML Schema) section but is simply an element named according to the operation specified in the WSDL portType section. For the document/literal mode of messaging the SOAP body content has to be a valid top level element (i.e. document) as defined in the WSDL types (XML Schema) section - so you must use a top-level element as the one and only part in the WSDL message definition (the operation name of the WSDL portType doesn't appear anywhere in the SOAP body or message).

Which style of WSDL should I use?
The "Wrapped" Document/Literal convention