This note appends to
http://snrc.stanford.edu/~petrie/fx-agents/xserv/icpaper/appendix-d.html
Critique of WSFL
Travel Example
If one goes through the example in Appendix D to WSFL 1.0
of the specification, it is clear that a) the text does
not match the formal specifications and b) the formal
specifications are inconsistent.
The appendix
shows a detailed example of the use of WSFL. A close
examination shows not only the difficulty of arranging the
service integration illustrated,but that this example was
never run. First, it is not a good example since the
"Traveler" is only a service initiator, not a
service. Therefore, there are only two web services
interacting: the Travel Agent and the Airline. (This is not
clear from the text.)
The following detailed notes on discrepancies
between the text, the overview figure on page 85, and the
WSFL code were found by Donald Steiner
and Michael Kolb of WebV2:
- Acknowledgements are not represented in the picture.
- The seatAssignment is not part of a trip leg (as per picture).
Worse, seatAssignments are not related to flights in confirmation or
itinerary
- The travelers are not included in the ticketOrder to
the Airline.
This means the airline can't even generate the seat assignments in
the first place.
- The totalPrice is not included in the Confirmation to travel agent.
- The ticketOrderRecord is defined but not used.
© 2002 Charles J. Petrie, Jr., Ph.D.
<petrie@stanford.edu>