# SOAP web service requests

SOAP builds on the general XML-RPC web service concept and provides a richer,
albeit more complex, means for transferring typed data. SOAP web services
typically provide a Web Service Description Language file (WSDL) that specifies
the web service calls, data types, and service URL. While ActionScript 3 does
not provide direct support for SOAP, you can construct a SOAP XML message "by
hand," post it to the server, and then parse the results. However, for anything
except the simplest SOAP web service, you can probably save a significant amount
of development time using an existing SOAP library.

The Flex framework includes libraries for accessing SOAP web services. In Flash
Builder the library, rpc.swc, is automatically included in Flex projects, since
it is part of the Flex framework. In Flash Professional, you can add the Flex
framework.swc and rpc.swc to the library path of a project and then access the
Flex classes with ActionScript.

More Help topics

[Using the Flex web service component in Flash Professional](https://web.archive.org/web/20110731192325/http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adc-presents/use-the-flex-webservice-component-in-flash/)

![](../../img/flexLinkIndicator.png)
[Accessing server-side data](https://web.archive.org/web/20150414032840/http://help.adobe.com/en_US/flex/accessingdata/WS2db454920e96a9e51e63e3d11c0bf69084-7ff2.html)

[Cristophe Coenraets: Real-time Trader Desktop for Android](https://web.archive.org/web/20120327020402/http://coenraets.org/blog/air-for-android-samples/real-time-trader-desktop-for-android/)
