How to send a SOAP request using Python?

Marvin 166 Published: 07/27/2024

How to send a SOAP request using Python?

Sending a SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) request using Python can be done with the help of the soapclient module from the zeep library. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

Step 1: Install the Required Libraries

You need to install the following libraries using pip:

pip install zeep

Step 2: Define Your SOAP Request

Create a Python file (e.g., soap_request.py) and define your SOAP request as follows:

from zeep import Client
Load the WSDL file or URL

client = Client('https://example.com/yourwsdlfile.wsdl')

Set up your request data

request_data = {

'username': 'your_username',

'password': 'your_password',

Add more fields as needed

}

try:

response = client.service.your_soap_method(request_data)

except Exception as e:

print(f"Error: {e}")

In this example, we're loading a WSDL file from https://example.com/yourwsdlfile.wsdl and setting up some request data for the SOAP method your_soap_method.

Step 3: Send the SOAP Request

Now that you have your request data prepared, it's time to send the SOAP request using the soapclient module:

# Send the SOAP request

response = client.service.your_soap_method(request_data)

print("Response:")

print(response)

This will send the SOAP request to the specified URL and print the response.

Example Code

Here's an example code snippet that sends a SOAP request using Python:

from zeep import Client
Load the WSDL file

client = Client('https://example.com/soap.wsdl')

try:

Set up your request data

request_data = {

'username': 'your_username',

'password': 'your_password',

Add more fields as needed

}

Send the SOAP request

response = client.service.your_soap_method(request_data)

print("Response:")

print(response)

except Exception as e:

print(f"Error: {e}")

Additional Tips and Considerations

Make sure you have the WSDL file or URL correct, as this is what the soapclient module will use to generate the SOAP request. You may need to adjust the request_data dictionary depending on the specific requirements of your SOAP service. If you encounter any errors while sending the SOAP request, make sure to catch and handle them properly using a try-except block.

With these steps, you should be able to send a SOAP request using Python with ease!

python soap server

Here's an explanation of how to create a Python SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) server using the soaplib library:

SOAP is a protocol for exchanging information between systems over the internet. It's often used in enterprise environments where XML-based data exchange is necessary. In this tutorial, we'll create a simple SOAP server using the soaplib library that exposes an operation to greet users.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have Python and the soaplib library installed:

Python (version 3.x or 2.7) soaplib (install with pip: pip install soaplib)

Create a new project directory

mkdir soap_server

cd soap_server

In this directory, we'll create a Python file named soap_server.py.

Create the SOAP server code

In soap_server.py, add the following code:

import soaplib

from soaplib.core import soapmethod

class Greeter(soaplib.core.XMLBean):

def greet(self, name: str) -> str:

return f"Hello, {name}!"

@soapmethod(Greeter, 'greet')

def greeting_server():

greeter = Greeter()

return greeter.greet('world')

if name == 'main':

soaplib.config.litespeed = True

soaplib.config.output_directory = '.'

server = soaplib.core.Service(soaplib.config)

server.add_function(greeting_server, 'greet')

try:

print("SOAP Server started")

server.serve_forever()

except KeyboardInterrupt:

pass

Here's what the code does:

We import soaplib and define a custom XMLBean class named Greeter. The greeter.greet() method takes a string parameter, name, and returns a greeting message. We decorate the greeting_server() function with the @soapmethod decorator, indicating that this is a SOAP operation. In the main script, we create an instance of the Greeter class and add the greet function to the service. We start the server using the serve_forever() method.

Run the SOAP server

python soap_server.py

This will start the SOAP server, which listens for incoming requests on a default port (usually 8000).

Test the SOAP server

Using a tool like SoapUI or soapclient (part of the soaplib library), send an HTTP request to the SOAP server:

http://localhost:8000/services/soap_service/greet?wsdl

This should return the WSDL (Web Service Description Language) file, which describes the available operations.

Now, send a request to the greet operation with the world parameter:

http://localhost:8000/services/soap_service/greet?name=world

The response should be:


Hello, world!

Congratulations! You have now created a simple SOAP server using Python and soaplib.

Remember to adjust the port number and XML namespace (in this example, xmlns="http://example.com/") according to your requirements.

Limitations

This is just a basic example of creating a SOAP server with soaplib. In a real-world scenario, you would likely want to handle errors more robustly, implement authentication and authorization, and possibly integrate with other systems or services.