UDDI stands for Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration. It is a generic format for registering services available through the Web. A number of public registries exist, which make information about registered services available. Ideally, these public registries all contain the same information, although there may be minor discrepancies due to differences in when they update their information. 

UDDI registries contain information about more than just Web Services. The format is sufficiently general that it can be used to describe any business service. Entries in the UDDI registry are organized hierarchically; first by business, then by type of service, and lastly by detailed information within a service. This detailed information is called a TModel. A Web Service, which can include one or more invokable interfaces, makes up a single TModel. Thus, a single business service can include multiple Web Services, as well as other business information. Each TModel can include a variety of information, including contact information for people within the business, a description of the service, and technical details such as a WSDL document. 

For example, consider a hypothetical business, Widgets Inc. This business might have two services, widget manufacturing and custom widget design. Under the widget manufacturing service, you might find two TModels, one for selling parts to Widgets Inc, and one for ordering widgets. Each of these could be a Web Service. Under the custom widget design service, you might find a Web Service for obtaining cost estimates, and another TModel that is not a Web Service, which gives the address of a Web site for viewing past custom designs.

The first step after you launch the UDDI browser from the WSDL importer is to indicate the UDDI registry you want to search. The public registries should all contain the same information, but there can be differences. In addition, you may be using an internal, private registry. Select a public registry from the drop-down in the upper left corner, or type in the address of a private registry you want to use. 

The next step is to locate the business from which you want to import a Web Service. Enter the name of the business in the edit control labeled Name. Other controls let you specify whether the browser must match this name exactly, or whether you want a case-insensitive search or want to allow a partial match. You can also specify how many matches you want to fetch (if multiple businesses meet your criteria) and how to sort the results. 

Once you have specified the search criteria, click the Find button to locate the business. All of the matches appear in the tree view in the upper right corner. Use this tree view to drill down, locating the service you want, and the TModel within that service that corresponds to the Web Service you want to import. As you select items in this tree view, the lower right portion of the browser provides information about the selected item. When you select a TModel that represents a Web Service with a WSDL document, the Import button becomes enabled. When you locate the Web Service you want to import, click the Import button.

Using the WSDL Importer