php soap difference in wsdl & non-wsdl

[esmok]

Hi,

I'm planning to build a application with web services using php soap. I cannot make a dicision to choose between wsdl & non-wsdl.

Is non-wsdl give all the features wsdl support. That is the advantages and disadvantages.

I have to use lot of complex types as well. And also may have to implement some kind of authentication.

Which of these modes support ws-security

Thanks

[Valdhor]

If you are writing both the client and server, you do not need a WSDL file.

If you intend to publish your service for others to consume, you are better off creating a WSDL file as this will be the "standard" for consuming your service. If anybody wants to consume your service, they will have to conform to your standard.

You can implement WSSecurity without a WSDL file. Generally, WSSecurity is not included in the WSDL file as you want security done "Out-Of-Band".

[samisa]

Well, WS-Security can be included in the WSDL itself as WS-Policy elements.

Web services framework for PHP can handle advanced security stuff such as encryption and signing. See this article for more information.