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ArcWeb Services SOAP API v2 migration options

For ArcWeb SOAP v1 and v2 users, there are four recommended migration paths that will provide you with many more benefits, features, and functionality:

ArcWeb Explorer Flex allows you to create your own rich Internet mapping applications quickly.
ArcWeb Explorer JavaScript allows you to build rich client applications easily in a short time.
J2ME Mobile Toolkit is designed for cell phones, PDAs, and Blackberries.
REST v2006.1 provides mapping via simple URL requests.
SOAP v2006.1 gives you full control and access to all available functionality.

If you uploaded POI data for v2, see Migrating v2 data.

Reasons to migrate from SOAP v2 to ArcWeb Explorer Flex

ArcWeb Explorer Flex is a client-side API. You can rapidly deploy map-centric, rich internet applications (RIAs) without needing server-side logic.
ArcWeb Explorer Flex provides access to extensive features in an easy to use API.
ArcWeb Explorer Flex provides a complete, easily modifiable demo application with helpful quick-start, quick-start plus, and advanced live samples with code.
You can use your own data sources to create mashups and perform spatial queries.
You can connect directly to ArcWeb Web Services such as Address Finder, Place Finder, and Spatial Query.
Using the Spatial Query service, you can query all Spatial Query data sources: point, line, and polygon.

ArcWeb Explorer Flex API has some advantages over SOAP:

You do not need WSDLs.
You do not need specialized toolkits.
Ready to use widgets can easily be included in your Web applications.
API Extensions for ArcGIS, ArcIMS, and GeoRSS provide access to ArcGIS Server and ArcIMS maps or GeoRSS feeds on any server.
Flex to JavaScript Bridge makes it possible for JavaScript developers to access and use everything available in the rich Flex API.

To learn more about this API, see the ArcWeb Explorer Developer's Guide.

Reasons to migrate from SOAP v2 to ArcWeb Explorer JavaScript

ArcWeb Explorer JavaScript is a client-side API. You can rapidly deploy map-centric, rich internet applications (RIAs) without needing server-side logic.
ArcWeb Explorer JavaScript provides access to extensive features in an easy to use API.
ArcWeb Explorer JavaScript provides a complete, easily modifiable demo application with helpful quick-start and quick-start plus samples.
You can use your own data sources to create mashups and perform spatial queries.

ArcWeb Explorer JavaScript API has some advantages over SOAP:

You do not need WSDLs.
You do not need specialized toolkits.
Ready to use widgets can be included in your Web applications with just a few lines of script.

To learn more about this API, see Using ArcWeb Explorer JavaScript.

Reasons to migrate from SOAP v2 to J2ME Mobile Toolkit

The J2ME Mobile Toolkit API is specifically targeted towards wireless/mobile device developers.
J2ME is a standardized Java API and is supported on most mobile phones.
Applications can run inside the phone within the Java virtual machine. This means applications have the flexibility to download data and run offline when needed.
Manufacturers have added other Java APIs specific to their phones to utilize the capabilities of the handsets. This provides a wide range of functionality to tap into, for example, phones with GPS have a Java API that allows developers to interact with the GPS and use it in their applications.

ArcWeb J2ME Mobile Toolkit API has some advantages over SOAP:

The API provides course-grained functionality to speed deployment time.
The API classes are simplified to minimize the number of round trips and make the best of the wireless connection data transfer. For example, if an application needs to geocode and show the result on a map, the API does both the geocode and map requests in one round trip to the server.

To learn more about this API, see Using J2ME Mobile Toolkit.

Reasons to migrate from SOAP v2 to REST v2006.1

Representational State Transfer (REST) is an HTTP URL with parameters that can be used to access remote resources, so it is inherently lightweight. For example, enter a vector map request as a URL in a browser, and the browser immediately displays the map.
REST does not require a toolkit to prepare requests or to handle responses.
REST can be used in any Web server environment that has an HTTP or HTTPS connection.
REST provides a faster client-side experience, because requests return a result in one round trip. The responses depend on the type of request made and return the result object in the response. So if the request is for a map, the map is directly in the response, whereas SOAP returns a URL for the location of the map.
The REST API does not depend on a WSDL; the documentation includes all available functions and the parameters for each function.

ArcWeb REST API includes some features that are not available in SOAP:

Tile map data sources.
Auto projection which automatically returns the map in the best projection for that scale and area when turned on.
UserID option for authentication which makes initial development easier. UserIDs do not expire and are not bound to the IP address of a client machine.

To learn more about this API, see Using REST.

Reasons to migrate from SOAP v2 to SOAP v2006.1

SOAP v2 soon will be phased out, and the WSDLs will be taken offline.
SOAP v2006.1 provides faster performance and many enhancements over SOAP v2. Routing applications, drive time polygons, and spatial queries with your own data sources will run much faster in SOAP v2006.1.
SOAP v2006.1 allows access to more data and content. Hundreds of data layers are now available including high-resolution imagery, as well as current year business and demographics information.
SOAP v2006.1 includes the following new services: Content Finder Web Service, Data Manager Web Service, Spatial Query Web Service, and Wireless Location Web Service.
SOAP v2006.1 contains enhancements to all SOAP v2 services including mapping, routing, geocoding, and spatial query.
SOAP v2006.1 includes Web Services Security (WS-Security) 1.0 authentication.
SOAP toolkits are available in many programming languages, such as Java, C#.NET, ColdFusion MX, and Visual Basic .NET.
SOAP v2006.1 includes "auto" data sources that determine the country/region of the request and select the appropriate data source based on that information. If there are several data sources for a location, each one is tried until a successful match is obtained.
SOAP v2006.1 supports multiple data sources in one request allowing you to create your own auto data source for Address Finder, Address Manager, Place Finder and Route Finder Web Services.