WSO2 API Manager - can it convert REST requests to SOAP requests on the backend?

Question

I'm exploring the use of the WSO2 API Manager for our legacy API, which is currently SOAP based. IDeally, I'd like to expose a RESTful interface to our customers and have API Manager convert that to a SOAP request that gets passed to our legacy system. Searching the WSO2 site, I see there's some way to do this using XSLT transformations, but only when using the WSo2 ESB product.

Is there a way to handle this transformation in the API Manager? How? If not, could I somehow take advantage of the ESB product and combine it with the API Manager product? Or is that overkill?

Thanks!

Answer 1

REST to SOAP conversion is a standout feature of the WSO2 ESB. To learn more about it look at the sample given at [1]. The Payload Factory Mediator used in this sample is a much newer type of mediator than the XSLT Mediator and is also more efficient in handling SOAP messages than XSLT Mediator.

The WSO2 API Manager is a platform for publishing, managing and governing APIs. The WSO2 API Manager is built using the componentalized Carbon framework, for which almost all components of the WSO2 ESB are utilized. Therefore technically all that can be done with the WSO2 ESB can be done by the WSO2 API Manager; however without the help of the GUI found in the WSO2 ESB; you will have to use the source view of the configuration which is xml based. But ofcourse to navigate around this obstacle you can always download the WSO2 ESB product (which is also free and open-source) and create all the necessary mediation sequences using the GUI and copy-n-paste the configuration from the WSO2 ESB to the WSO2 API Manager and you are done.

In my opinion it is the WSO2 ESB that you need. In your case I presume you just have one or a few SOAP APIs which you need to expose as REST APIs; you are looking more at the REST-SOAP conversion feature rather than the ability to manage hundreds of APIs. If you do not need the core functionalities of the API Manager such as publishing APIs, versioning, authenticating consumers, throttling based on policies, and monitoring API usage (for a complete list of features look at the product homepage at [2]), then you really do not want the API Manager. But if you have the API Management requirements you can go with WSO2 API Manager. I don't think you should go with the WSO2 API Manager just because you foresee some kind of API Management requirements coming ahead.

Using both the WSO2 ESB fronted by the WSO2 API Manager is also a solution. WSO2 even recommends this architecture if you are performing heavy mediation in the mediation layer. You can even start with the WSO2 ESB alone and later when the proper requirements come, decide to front it with the WSO2 API Manager. Fronting the WSO2 ESB with the WSO2 API Manager is a breeze.

[1] http://docs.wso2.org/wiki/display/ESB403/Sample+800+Introduction+to+REST+API

[2] http://wso2.com/products/api-manager/