WS-Discovery

WS-Discovery provides you with a simplistic Java-based application that can help you understand the way the multicast WS-Discovery protocol works. It is designed for scanning and identifying web services in a local network.

The application is compatible with version 1.1 of the specification and is capable of discovering newly available services using SOAP-over-UDP standards.

The application's functionality and purpose makes it clear that it is not intended for beginners. However, it is very easy to use, thanks to the forthright approach that it adopts. The single-window GUI enables you to activate and deactivate the monitoring process and get an overview on the detected running services.

WS-Discovery can probe for new services, prompting you to specify the scope matching algorithm used for identification, as well as the port type. Probes are sent to a multicast group and the possible matches are retrieved by the application. Discovery proxies can be run as individual services, which increases the number of endpoints that you can send requests to.

All the known services are displayed within an organized table, along with their unique identifier (UUID), the port type, invocation address and scope. The ones that are running on the local computer are shown separately. The program allows you to publish new services by specifying the above-mentioned parameters.

WS-Discovery is an implementation of the namesake specification. While the usage should not pose any problems, the program is suitable for advanced network administrators and developers who have certain knowledge about this technology.