JWSR, Volume 3, Number 1, January-March 2006
Official Publication of the Information Resources Management Association
Published: Quarterly in Print and Electronically
ISSN: 1545-7362
EISSN: 1546-5004


EDITORIAL PREFACE:

"Web Services in Data, Control, and Applications"

Jia Zhang, Northern Illinois University, USA
Liang-Jie Zhang, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, USA

This issue of the International Journal of Web Services Research (JWSR) collects five papers on the topics of Web services information confidentiality, transport protocol enhancements, dynamic service composition and configuration, services-oriented data access, and services-based application design and development.

RESEARCH PAPERS

PAPER ONE:

"A Dynamic Label Checking Approach for Information Flow Control in Web Services"

Tari, Z.
Bertok, P.
Simic, D.

Information Flow Control (IFC) is a method of enforcing confidentiality by using labels, data structures for specifying security classifications. IFC is used in programming languages to monitor procedures in an attempt to detect and prevent information leakage. While it ensures greater security, IFC excessively restricts flow of information. This paper presents a model of information flow control using semi-discretionary label structures. We propose a set of rules that not only increases the flexibility of IFC but also defines labels as a practical component of a security system. We propose a dynamic approach using a centralized model for dynamic label checking and verify the proposed model using theoretical proofs.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-pub.com/articles/details.asp?ID=5522

PAPER TWO:

"Service-Oriented Solution Framework for Internet Banking"

Shan, T. C.
Hua, W. W.

This paper describes a service-oriented solution framework designed for Internet banking in financial services. A pragmatic approach is developed to help migrate conventional n-tier e-commerce systems to a service-oriented computing paradigm, composed of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Integration (SOI), Process (SOP), and Management (SOM). This comprehensive framework comprises Service Patterns, Architecture Process, Hybrid Methodology, Service-Oriented Enterprise Model, and Solution Platform. E-business patterns are applied to categorize diverse online services, which form the baseline for subsequent selection justifications of appropriate technologies, products/tools, and infrastructure. A multi-level architecture process is developed to cope with the architecture complexity in a disciplined way. Furthermore, a hybrid methodology is designed to leverage the benefits of both top-down and bottom-up approaches, in which a converging layer is conceived to incorporate the latest technologies such as portal, process orchestration, Web services, service aggregations, business rule engine, and so forth. In the enterprise model, common business functionalities are built as shared services to be reused across lines of business as well as delivery channels, and the Internet channel-specific SOA is defined by applying the hybrid methodology. Finally, a holistic solution platform is introduced to address the key design artifacts in the implementation of service-oriented solutions. Challenges of conflicting specifications and immature cutting-edge technologies are also discussed in the context.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-pub.com/articles/details.asp?ID=5523

PAPER THREE:

"Bandwidth and Latency Considerations for Efficient SOAP Messaging"

Werner, C.
Cuschmann, C.
Jacker, T.
Fischer, S.

Although Web service technology is being used in more and more distributed systems, its areas of application are inherently limited by high latencies and high amounts of protocol overhead. For messaging in environments with user interaction, like Web platforms for business or multimedia applications, the response time of the whole system needs to be kept in tight boundaries. In other scenarios including mobile communication and battery-powered devices, bandwidth-efficient communication is imperative. In this paper, we address both of these issues. First we conduct a detailed latency analysis of different transport mechanisms for SOAP and then we thoroughly investigate their protocol overhead. For both aspects we present a theoretical analysis as well as experimental measurement results. We then will introduce a new transport binding called PURE that significantly reduces the protocol overhead while featuring low latency. Furthermore it enables interesting additional features such as point-to-multipoint communication via IP multicast and broadcast.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-pub.com/articles/details.asp?ID=5524

PAPER FOUR:

"Facilitating Dynamic Service Compositions by Adaptable Service Connectors"

Li, G.
Han, Y.
Zhao, Z.
Wang, J.
Wagner, R. M.

Dynamic changes of services and requirements require service connection relationships adaptable in service compositions. This paper presents an adaptable service connector model and related language and tools. The model presents service connection relationships as an explicit component with which service connections can be reconfigured and changes of services involved in the interaction can be handled; this makes the service connection relationships more adaptive. With the language and tools supporting the model, services can be dynamically chained, which make service-oriented applications adapt to volatile business requirements and dynamic changeable services. The related case study and evaluation are also presented in this paper.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-pub.com/articles/details.asp?ID=5525

PAPER FIVE:

"XML Data Services"

Borkar, V.
Carey, M.
Mangtani, N.
McKinney, D.
Patel R.
Thatte, S.

In this paper, we address the question, in the brave new world of Web services and service-oriented architectures (SOA), how does data fit in??We bring data modeling concepts to bear on the world of services, yielding an approach in which enterprise data access is handled by a collection of interrelated data services. We show how the approach can be realized on a foundation of XML standards, namely XML Schema, Web services, and XQuery. We show that this approach provides a uniform and declarative framework for integrating enterprise data assets that are drawn from disparate underlying sources, including both queryable and non-queryable data sources as well as data that is encapsulated by Web services. We also explain how the approach yields data services that are easily and efficiently reusable.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-pub.com/articles/details.asp?ID=5526

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For full copies of the above articles, check for this issue of the International Journal of Web Services Research (JWSR) in your Institution's library.
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