Using SOAP Headers 

Communicating with a Web service method using SOAP follows a standard format. Part of this format is the data that is encoded in an XML document. The XML document consists of a root Envelope element, which in turn consists of a required Body element and an optional Header element. The Body element comprises the data specific to the message. The optional Header element can contain additional information not directly related to the particular message. Each child element of the Header element is called a SOAP header.

Although the SOAP headers can contain data related to the message, as the SOAP specification does not strictly define the contents of a SOAP header, they typically contain information processed by infrastructure within a Web server. An example of how a SOAP header can be used is to supply routing information for the SOAP message within the SOAP header.

In This Section

• How to: Define and Process SOAP Headers
  Describes how to define a class that represents a SOAP header and how to process SOAP headers in a Web service.

• How to: Build a Client That Processes SOAP Headers
  Describes how to process SOAP headers within a Web service client.

• How to: Change a SOAP Header's Recipients
  Describes how to specify the recipients of a SOAP header.

• How to: Handle Unknown SOAP Headers
  Describes how to handle unknown SOAP headers received from a Web service client.

• How to: Handle SOAP Headers Required by an XML Web Service Client
  Describes how to handle SOAP headers that are not defined by a Web service, but that are required by a Web service client.

• Handling Errors That Occur While Processing a SOAP Header
  Describes how a Web service handles errors that occur while processing a SOAP header.

See Also

Concepts

Anatomy of an XML Web Service Lifetime
Building XML Web Service Clients

Other Resources

Customizing SOAP Message Formatting
XML Web Services Using ASP.NET