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faqs
What is GetData?
Who would use GetData?
What do I need to use GetData?
What is XML?
What is a Web Service?
What is WSDL?
What is REST (Or XML over HTTP)?
What is SOAP?
Why does GetData use both SOAP and REST?
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| What is GetData?
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GetData is a Web Service provided by www.creditsafeuk.com. GetData retrieves credit
information about a company from the creditsafe.com database. A customer can use the
data returned by GetData however they wish. For example, a customer may use
GetData to provide a credit check facility to their clients or to integrate
with their own existing systems such as a Customer Relationship Management System
or Ordering System to provide the latest credit information about a potential
customer at the touch of a button.
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| Who would use GetData?
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GetData can be used by any businesses that would benefit from current, easy to
understand, accurate credit information. For example, retailers who need to make
credit decisions quickly, or sales and marketing businesses that need to identify
potential sales prospects would all benefit using GetData.
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| What do I need to use GetData?
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As GetData is accessed over the Internet anyone who has an Internet connection can use the service.
In order to use GetData a customer generates an XML format request message, calls GetData and then
receives an XML format response message. A customer can transform the response XML to display the
information as they desire. GetData can be called using XML over HTTP/REST or SOAP protocols.
Generating the request XML, calling GetData and processing the response XML are relatively simple tasks.
However, using the credit information returned to integrate with other applications requires some
development expertise.
We recommend the following skills:
Basic knowledge of XML
Experience of programming with XML
Working knowledge of a programming language or Web development experience
Working knowledge of application to integrate with
Basic knowledge of SOAP or XML over HTTP/REST
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| What is XML?
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XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language and is used to structure, store and send information. XML
looks similar to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) in that it uses begin and end tags to define data.
HTML offers a universal method to create web user interfaces whereas XML offers a universal way to
describe and work with data. Software developers define their own XML structures and tags that
describe their particular data. XML can be used to communicate with other systems that understand
XML regardless of platform, operating system, language or data store differences between the two
systems.
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| What is a Web Service?
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A Web Service is a piece of software that performs a useful function that is accessed over the
Internet. XML is used to format all communications to and from a Web Service. A customer generates
an XML request message that is sent to the Web Service then waits for a corresponding XML response
message. As all communication is in XML, Web Services are not tied to any one Operating System or
Programming Language. Web Services provide a means to integrate several seemingly disparate systems
into one larger combined system.
A Web Service provider defines a format for requests for its service and the response the service
will generate. A client makes a request for the Web Service across the Internet. The Web Service
performs some action and returns a response to the client across the Internet.
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| What is WSDL?
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WSDL stands for Web Service Description Language and is an XML based language used to specify all
the methods available to clients from a Web Service. The WSDL document includes the method name,
input parameters and return values. The purpose of the WSDL document is to provide a client with
enough information to construct a request message in a format that the Web Service understands
and to specify the response message structure returned by the Web Service.
View the GetData WSDL document.
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| What is REST (Or XML over HTTP)?
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REST stands for Representation State Transfer and uses URLs with specific name/value pairs to request
information from a Web Service using HTTP commands such as GET and POST. As REST is based on such
a widely accepted methodology, most developers should be able to get started with REST using a
moderate amount of code and without having to learn many new concepts.
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| What is SOAP?
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SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a structured method of sharing messages between a client
and a server. SOAP is a lightweight protocol for exchanging structured messages based on XML. SOAP
has been designed to be independent of any particular programming model, environment or language.
Applications can deal directly with SOAP data structures but often they will use a toolkit
specific to their programming language. These toolkits simplify the process of making SOAP
calls and processing the returned results. Toolkits are available from a wide variety of
sources to fit the needs of any developer.
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| Why does GetData use both SOAP and REST (or XML over HTTP)?
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GetData can be accessed using both SOAP and REST because Creditsafe.com wanted to provide a
platform that would address the different needs of different people. Supporting both technologies
means customers can select the protocol that are most comfortable with and best suits their IT
expertise.
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