System and method for exposing a J2EE application server as a web service transaction participant

A computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of employing a J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) application server in a web services transaction, the method comprising:

• deploying a JCA (Java Connector Architecture) resource adapter in the application server;
• receiving a SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) transaction request at the resource adapter;
• wherein the SOAP request is initiated in a web services environment that is external to the application server, and wherein the transaction request comprises context information for a transaction;
• inflowing the web service transaction request into the application server from the resource adapter, wherein inflowing the transaction request comprises:
• retrieving the context information from the transaction request;
• extracting a payload of the transaction request;
• using the payload to create a SOAP message on which work will be performed;
• and
• sending the SOAP message to a SOAP processing engine in the application server;
• receiving the SOAP message at the SOAP processing engine in the application server;
• processing the SOAP message returning a response from the SOAP engine;
• and
• terminating the transaction in the application server, wherein a termination command is initiated in the external web services environment, and wherein the external web services environment directs the application server to commit or rollback a set of state changes or operations previously sent to the application server.

An apparatus for exposing a J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) application server as a web service participant, comprising:

• a JCA (Java Connector Architecture) resource adapter, implemented in hardware, configured to:
• receive SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) requests from a web service environment, wherein the requests comprise context information for the requests;
• convert a SOAP request into a SOAPMessage using a SAAJ (SOAP with Attachments API for Java) application program interface, wherein the SOAP request comprises a web service transaction request, wherein converting the SOAP request comprises:
• retrieving the context information from the request;
• extracting a payload of the request;
• using the payload to create a SOAP message on which work will be performed;
• and
• inflow the SOAPMessage into a J2EE application server in which the resource adapter is deployed;
• and
• a SOAP processing engine, implemented in hardware, configured to:
• receive the SOAPMessage;
• process the web service transaction request;
• return a response to the transaction request to the resource adapter for forwarding to the web service environment;
• and
• terminate the transaction in the application server, wherein a termination command is initiated in the external web services environment, and wherein the external web services environment directs the application server to commit or rollback a set of state changes or operations previously sent to the application server.