With Web services, the native service endpoint that is sent by CentraSite to Mediator inside a virtual service definition is a static element. Once the virtual service is successfully deployed to Mediator, the real endpoint is returned to CentraSite as part of the response message during deployment. At run time, when a SOAP request is received, that request is POSTed to the endpoint that is statically defined in the virtual service definition.

However, with REST services or XML services, the endpoint is flexible. The REST services or XML services describe data as resources. The resources are accessible via logical endpoints that have application meaning to users. For example, a collection of textbooks might be defined as a resource with the following URL:

A specific book with an identifier of 1234 would be accessible with the following URL:

Due to this difference and others, you should keep the following topics described in this chapter in mind when you configure a REST or XML virtual service.