processing XML posts through a web server

[Jack]

Ok call me stupid, but can anyone explain the best way to process bi
directional XML coming in via an http post, using an IIS webserver.. I
know CPAN has XML modules, etc. but how does this process work - ie a
file is posted to the webserver and saved to a directory where perl
then parses it ?? How do you use perl to post a response back through
IIS ? Basic to some but not me, any thoughts would help.

Thank you,

Jack

 

[RedGrittyBrick]

Ok call me stupid, but can anyone explain the best way to

The best way to do anything is with whatever tools you personally are
familiar with, or inclined to learn, that will do the job. For these
reasons I try to avoid asking "what is the best ...".

process bi directional XML coming in via an http post,

This sounds like SOAP. Is it?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOAP

using an IIS webserver..

I've not used Perl with IIS. Best ask in an IIS forum. I've no doubt IIS
can be persuaded to run Perl CGI scripts. I wouldn't expect IIS to do
this efficiently since I imagine IIS developers regard CGI as a legacy
architecture to be deprecated.

I know CPAN has XML modules, etc.

Indeed. See also SOAP::Lite.

but how does this process work - ie a file is posted to the webserver
and saved to a directory where perl then parses it ??

Not usually.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Gateway_Interface

With SOAP, your client is basically calling methods
(procedures/functions/subroutines) defined in a Perl module on the
server. To the software developer it is very much like normal subroutine
calls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_procedure_call

SOAP can be used for a form of RPC where the parameters and return
values are converted to XML for transmission (this is called
serialization or marshalling) - but the application programmer usually
doesn't have to deal with XML.

How do you use perl to post a response back through IIS ?

Have you read some Perl CGI documentation or tutorials?
Have you read `perldoc CGI`?