The Structure of the JAXM API

The JAXM API conforms to the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) 1.1 specification and the SOAP with Attachments specification. The complete JAXM API is presented in two packages:

javax.xml.soap -- the package defined in the SOAP with Attachments API for Java (SAAJ) 1.1 specification. This is the basic package for SOAP messaging, which contains the API for creating and populating a SOAP message. This package has all the API necessary for sending request-response messages. (Request-response messages are explained in SOAPConnection.)

The current version is SAAJ 1.1.1.

javax.xml.messaging -- the package defined in the JAXM 1.1 specification. This package contains the API needed for using a messaging provider and thus for being able to send one-way messages. (One-way messages are explained in ProviderConnection.)

The current version is JAXM 1.1.1.

Originally, both packages were defined in the JAXM 1.0 specification. The javax.xml.soap package was separated out and expanded into the SAAJ 1.1 specification so that now it has no dependencies on the javax.xml.messaging package and thus can be used independently. The SAAJ API also makes it easier to create XML fragments, which is especially helpful for developing JAX-RPC implementations.

The javax.xml.messaging package, defined in the JAXM 1.1 specification, maintains its dependency on the java.xml.soap package because the soap package contains the API used for creating and manipulating SOAP messages. In other words, a client sending request-response messages can use just the javax.xml.soap API. A Web service or client that uses one-way messaging will need to use API from both the javax.xml.soap and javax.xml.messaging packages.

Note: In this document, "JAXM 1.1.1 API" refers to the API in the javax.xml.messaging package; "SAAJ API" refers to the API in the javax.xml.soap package. "JAXM API" is a more generic term, referring to all of the API used for SOAP messaging, that is, the API in both packages.