XML-RPC is a remote procedure call protocol which uses XML to encode its calls and HTTP as a transport mechanism. ^[1]

Overview

XML-RPC is a very simple protocol, defining only a handful of data types and commands^[2], and the entire description can be printed on two pages of paper. This is in stark contrast to most RPC systems, where the standards documents often run into the hundreds of pages and require considerable software support in order to be used.

History

XML-RPC was first created by Dave Winer of UserLand Software in 1998 with Microsoft. As new functionality was introduced, the standard evolved into what is now SOAP.

Usage

Some people prefer XML-RPC to SOAP because of its simplicity, minimalism, and ease of use.

JSON-RPC is similar to XML-RPC.

Data types

<array>
  <data>
    <value><i4>1404</i4></value>
    <value><string>Something here</string></value>
    <value><i4>1</i4></value>
  </data>
</array>

<base64>eW91IGNhbid0IHJlYWQgdGhpcyE=</base64>

<boolean>1</boolean>

<dateTime.iso8601>19980717T14:08:55</dateTime.iso8601>

<double>-12.53</double>

<i4>42</i4>

<int>42</int>

<string>Hello world!</string>

<struct>
  <member>
    <name>foo</name>
    <value><i4>1</i4></value>
  </member>
  <member>
    <name>bar</name>
    <value><i4>2</i4></value>
  </member>
</struct>

<nil/>

Examples

An example of a typical XML-RPC request would be:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodCall>
  <methodName>examples.getStateName</methodName>
  <params>
    <param>
        <value><i4>40</i4></value>
    </param>
  </params>
</methodCall>

An example of a typical XML-RPC response would be:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodResponse>
  <params>
    <param>
        <value><string>South Dakota</string></value>
    </param>
  </params>
</methodResponse>

A typical XML-RPC fault would be:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodResponse>
  <fault>
    <value>
      <struct>
        <member>
          <name>faultCode</name>
          <value><int>4</int></value>
        </member>
        <member>
          <name>faultString</name>
          <value><string>Too many parameters.</string></value>
        </member>
      </struct>
    </value>
  </fault>
</methodResponse>

Implementations

C++

• Libiqxmlrpc
• Ultra lightweight XML-RPC library for C++
• XML-RPC for C and C++
• XmlRpc++

Java

• Apache XML-RPC: Open source library for Java
• XML-RPC Delight: Convenient serialisation/deserialisation for Apache XML-RPC using Java Annotations and Beans
• http://members.fortunecity.com/neptune42/xmlrpc/index.htm: Secure Apache XML-RPC
• Redstone XML-RPC Library: Redstone's Open Source Library - XML-RPC implementation in Java
• XML-RPC Library for Java ME: Open source client-side library for Java ME

Jabber

• pyJabberXMLRPC: Python classes for Jabber
• Jabber-RPC: Over the Jabber protocol

Other

• JSON/XML-RPC Client and Server: Abstract away the differences between JSON-RPC and XML-RPC
• RemObjects SDK For XML-RPC, in addition to SOAP and others
• RealThinClient SDK: For Delphi/C++
• XML::RPC: Perl module implementation
• XML-RPC for ActionScript: For Flash ActionScript 2.0
• XML-RPC.NET: Open source library for .NET clients and servers
• XmlRpc-Light: Client and server library for OCaml
• S-XML-RPC: Client and server library for Common Lisp
• PHP-XML-RPC: For PHP

See also

• Ajax (programming)
• Component technologies
• List of Web service markup languages
• OPML
• Web service

References

1. ↑ Simon St. Laurent, Joe Johnston, Edd Dumbill. (June 2001) Programming Web Services with XML-RPC. O'Reilly. First Edition.
2. ↑ Dave Winer. (June 15, 1999) XML-RPC Specification UserLand Software, Inc.

External links

• XML-RPC Homepage
• Forum
• Tutorials
• Technology Reports
• Citations from CiteSeer

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