WSO2 Web Services Framework for Ruby brings enterprise-class SOA capabilities to popular web language

Colombo, Sri Lanka and Mountain View, CA – January 14, 2008 – WSO2, the open source SOA company, announced today the debut of the WSO2 Web Services Framework for Ruby (WSF/Ruby) 1.0—the open source framework for providing and consuming Web services in the popular Ruby object-oriented programming language. WSF/Ruby 1.0 is the first Ruby extension to offer extensive support for the Web services (WS-*) stack. For the first time, developers can bring to Ruby the security and reliable messaging that are required for trusted, enterprise-class SOAP-based Web services.

WSF/Ruby 1.0 enables developers to consume Web services with either the WS-* stack or HTTP. It is a binding of the Web Services Framework for C (WSF/C) into Ruby, providing a fully open source Ruby extension based on Apache Axis2/C, Apache Sandesha2/C, and Apache Rampart/C. Additionally, WSF/Ruby uses the Ruby on Rails (RoR) open source Web development framework as its deployment model for providing services, allowing developers to combine the programming ease of RoR with the enterprise-class functionality to support a service-oriented architecture (SOA).

“Ruby’s popular, human-centric approach to programming has been extended to the Internet by Ruby on Rails. With the rollout of WSF/Ruby 1.0, developers get the best of both worlds, combining ease of programming with the robust enterprise functionality required for business-critical Web services,” said Sanjiva Weerawarana, CEO of WSO2. “Now, for the first time, developers have a trusted platform for integrating Ruby into their enterprise service-oriented architectures.”

The WSO2 Web Services Framework for Ruby features both client and service APIs. The client API for consuming Web services uses the WSClient class for one-way and two-way service invocation support. The service API for providing Web services uses the WSService class with support for one-way and two-way operations. Both the client and service APIs incorporate the WSMessage class to handle message-level options.

WSF/Ruby 1.0 supports basic Web services standards, including SOAP 1.1 and SOAP 1.2. It also is fully tested and provides proven interoperability with Microsoft .NET, the Apache Axis2/Java-based WSO2 Web Services Application Server (WSAS), and other J2EE implementations. Key features of WSF/Ruby 1.0 are:

• Comprehensive support for the WS-* stack includes the SOAP Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM), WS-Addressing, WS-Security, WS-SecurityPolicy, and WS-Reliable Messaging.
• Secure Web services are enabled by advanced WS-Security features, such as encryption and signing of SOAP messages. Users also can send messages with UsernameToken and TimeStamp support.
• Reliable messaging for Web services and clients means basic SOAP messages, as well as messages with attachments can be sent in a reliable way.
• HTTP support lets a single service be exposed both as a SOAP-style and as a XML over HTTP-style service. The client API also supports invoking REST services using HTTP GET and POST methods.
• Class mapping for services enables a user to provide a class and expose the class operations as service operations.
• Attachments with Web services and clients take two forms. Users can send and receive attachments with SOAP messages in optimized formats and non-optimized formats with MTOM support.

WSF/Ruby has been tested on Windows XP with Microsoft Visual C++ version 8.0, as well as with Linux GCC 4.1.1.

The WSO2 Web Services Framework for Ruby 1.0 is available today. As a fully open source solution released under the Apache License 2.0, WSF/Ruby 1.0 does not carry any software licensing fees. WSO2 offers a range of service and support options for WSO2 WSF/Ruby 1.0. These include consulting, custom development, and sponsorship of open source feature development; development and production support; and training. For information on service and support packages, visit https://wso2.com . Additionally, the WSO2 Oxygen Tank is an open developer portal that provides in-depth product information, tutorials, tools, forums, wikis and more.