The SOAP message handlers are CICS-provided message handlers that you can include in your pipeline to process SOAP 1.1 and SOAP 1.2 messages. You can use the SOAP message handlers in a service requester or in a service provider pipeline.
On input , the SOAP message handlers parse inbound SOAP messages, and extract the SOAP <Body> element for use by your application program. On output, the handlers construct the complete SOAP message, using the <Body> element which your application provides.
If you use SOAP headers in your messages, the SOAP handlers can invoke user-written header processing programs that allow you to process the headers on inbound messages, and to add them to outbound messages.
SOAP message handlers, and any header processing programs, are specified in the pipeline configuration file, using the <cics_soap_1.1_handler> and the <cics_soap_1.2_handler> elements, and their sub-elements.
Typically, you will need just one SOAP handler in a pipeline. However, there are some situations where more than one is needed. For example, you can ensure that SOAP headers are processed in a particular sequence by defining multiple SOAP handlers.