[R] accessing a SOAP based web service from R

[Rajarshi Guha]

Hi,
  I have a number of web services that run on a server and can be
accessed via SOAP as well as by creating a specific URL.

Now, for certain services, the argument that I need to send is about 10
to 20 characters and the URL approach works fine. However if the
argument is a few kilobytes I would rather create a SOAP packet and send
that off.

So my first question is: is there a package that can create SOAP packets
and communicate with a web service via SOAP?

I have found the RSOAP package but that looks like it deals with
accessing R via SOAP. I think my situation is simpler(?) Another
approach I could use is to create a Java class that would do the
communication and use SJava etc to use it. However that seems like
overkill

Now, if I use the URL approach I get back an XML document. I realize I
could use the XML package for R to parse it. On the other hand if a SOAP
package could decode the return document and simply hand back the
result, that would make life easier.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

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Rajarshi Guha <rxg218 at psu.edu> <http://jijo.cjb.net>
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