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Soap

*** Shopping-Tip: Soap
: ''This article is about a computer protocol. For the common cleaning mixture, see soap. For other uses of the acronym SOAP, see soap (disambiguation).'' '''SOAP''' is a protocol (computing) protocol for exchanging XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using HTTP. SOAP forms the foundation layer of the Web Services Protocol Stack web services stack, providing a basic messaging framework that more abstract layers can build on. SOAP can be used to facilitate a Service-Oriented Architecture Service-Oriented architectural Design pattern (computer science) pattern. There are several different types of messaging patterns in SOAP, but by far the most common is the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) pattern, where one network node (the ''client'') sends a request message to another node (the ''server''), and the server immediately sends a response message to the client. Indeed, SOAP is the successor of XML RPC.

Overview
Originally designed by Dave Winer, Don Box, Bob Atkinson, and Mohsen Al-Ghosein in 1998 with backing from Microsoft (where Atkinson and Al-Ghosein worked at the time) as an object access protocol, the SOAP specification is currently maintained by the XML Protocol Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium.

Name
The name "SOAP" was originally an acronym for ''Simple Object Access Protocol'', but the full name was dropped in Version 1.2 of the SOAP specification, because the focus of SOAP shifted from object access to object inter-operability.

Transport methods
Both SMTP and HTTP are valid application layer protocols for SOAP, but HTTP has gained wider acceptance as it works well with today's Internet infrastructure; specifically, SOAP works well with network firewall (networking) firewalls. This is a major advantage over other distributed protocols like GIOP/IIOP or DCOM which are normally filtered by firewalls. A key issue under discussion is whether or not HTTP is the right transport given its inherent synchronous nature. XML was chosen as the standard message format because of its widespread acceptance by major corporations and open source development efforts. Additionally, a wide variety of freely available software development tool tools significantly ease the transition to a SOAP-based implementation. The somewhat lengthy syntax of XML can be both a benefit and a drawback. Its format is easy for humans to read, but can be complex and can have slow processing times. For example, CORBA, GIOP and DCOM use much shorter, binary message formats. On the other hand, hardware appliances are available to accelerate processing of XML messages. Binary XML (the use of the word "XML" is controversial here) is also being explored as a means for streamlining the throughput requirements of XML.

Structure of a SOAP message
A SOAP message is contained in an '''envelope'''. Within this envelope are two additional sections: the '''header''' and the '''body''' of the message. SOAP messages use XML Namespace (programming) namespaces. The header contains relevant information about the message. For example, a header can contain the date the message is sent, or authentication information. It is not required, but, if present, must always be included at the top of the envelope.

Example SOAP messages
Here is an example of how a client might format a SOAP message requesting product information from a fictional warehouse web service. The client needs to know which product corresponds with the ID 827635:

Here is how the warehouse web service might format its reply message with the requested product information:

 
   
     
       
         Toptimate 3-Piece Set
         827635
         3-Piece luggage set. Black Polyester.
         96.50
         true

Performance of SOAP
Because of the lengthy XML format, SOAP is considerably slower than competing middleware technologies such as CORBA. Typically, SOAP is about 10 times slower than binary network protocols such as Java_remote_method_invocation RMI or IIOP. This may not be an issue when only small messages are sent.

See also

Related technologies
*Comparison of Web service markup languages *List of Web service markup languages *Software componentry Component technologies *Web service and some of its core technologies WSDL, UDDI *WS-I Basic Profile *XMLHTTP *Netconf *SOAP with Attachments

Alternatives to SOAP
*JSON *XINS *Burlap [http://www.caucho.com/burlap/] *GXA *Hessian Web Service Protocol [http://www.caucho.com/hessian/index.xtp] *Representational State Transfer REST *XML-RPC *BEEP

External links

- Generic SOAP Client
- Dave Winer's history of SOAP
- Discussion on Web Services technology (SOAP and REST)
- Don Box's history of SOAP
- Simon Fell's PocketSOAP and [http://www.pocketsoap.com/weblog/ his blog], which frequently covers contemporary SOAP topics
- SOAP Category at ODP
- SOAP Implementations (list)
- Technology Report
- Two-way SOAP to CORBA bridge
- What is SOAP? (Macromedia_Flash Flash presentation; requires plugin.)
- W3Schools SOAP Tutorial (Note: This is an outdated tutorial, which advocates the incorrect SOAP XML_namespace namespace)
- W3C SOAP: Primer
- W3C SOAP: Messaging Framework
- W3C SOAP: Adjuncts
- XML protocol activity Category:W3C standards Category:Web service specifications Category:XML-based standards Category:Web services de:SOAP es:SOAP eo:SOAP fa:پروتکل دسترسی آسان به اشیاء fr:Simple object access protocol gl:Simple Object Access Protocol id:SOAP it:SOAP he:SOAP nl:Simple Object Access Protocol ja:Simple Object Access Protocol pl:Simple Object Access Protocol pt:SOAP ru:SOAP sv:SOAP zh:SOAP :''This article is about a common cleaning compound. For other uses of the word Soap, see Soap (disambiguation).'' Image:a bar of soap.jpg thumb|150px|Soap most commonly appears in bar form. This particular bar has seen some use and thus has lost its "bar" shape. '''Soap''' is a surfactant cleaning compound used for personal or minor cleaning. It usually comes in solid molding (process) moulded form, termed '''bars'''. In somewhat recent years, the use of thick liquid soap has become increasingly widespread, especially from soap dispensers in public washrooms. Soap is used in conjunction with water for washing and cleaning. The wet soap residue and the dirt or soil are rinsed off with clean water afterwards. In the developed world, synthetic detergents have superseded soap as a laundry aid. Many soaps are mixtures of sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids which can be derived from oils or fats by reacting them with an alkali (such as sodium hydroxide sodium or potassium hydroxide) at 80°–100 °C in a process known as saponification. The fats are Hydrolysis hydrolyzed by the base, yielding glycerol and crude soap. Historically, the alkali used was potash made from the deliberate burning of vegetation such as bracken, or from wood ashes. Soap is derived from either oils or fats. ''Sodium Tallowate'', a common ingredient in many soaps, is in fact derived from Kitchen_rendering rendered animal fat. Soap that is made of vegetable oils, such as olive oil, are generally termed castile soap. Image:Decorative_Soaps.jpg thumb|right|A collection of decorative soaps used for human hygiene purposes. This type of soap is typically found inside [[hotels.]]

Purification and finishing
The common process of purifying soap involves removal of sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, and glycerol. These impurities are removed by boiling the crude soap curds in water and re-precipitating the soap with salt. Most of the water is then removed from the soap. This was traditionally done on a chill roll which produced the soap flakes commonly used in the 1940s and 1950s. This process was superseded by spray dryers and then by vacuum dryers. The dry soap (approximately 6-12% moisture) is then compacted into small pellets. These pellets are now ready for soap finishing. Soap finishing is the process of converting raw soap pellets into salable product, usually bars. Soap pellets are combined with fragrances and other materials and blended to homogeneity in an amalgamator (mixer). The mass is then discharged from the mixer into a refiner which, by means of an auger, forces the soap through a fine wire screen. From the refiner the soap passes over a roller mill (French milling or hard milling) in a manner similar to calendering paper or plastic or to making chocolate liquor. The soap is then passed through one or more additional refiners to further plasticize the soap mass. Immediately before extrusion it passes through a vacuum chamber to remove any entrapped air. It is then extruded into a long log or blank, cut to convenient lengths, passed through a metal detector and then stamped into shape in refrigerated tools. The pressed bars are packaged in many ways. Sand or pumice may be added to produce a wiktionary:scouring scouring soap. This process is most common in creating soaps used for human hygiene. The scouring agents serve to remove dead skin cells from the surface being cleaned. This process is called exfoliation (cosmetology) exfoliation. Many newer materials are used for exfoliating soaps which are effective but do not have the sharp edges and poor size distribution of pumice.

Use
Although the word ''soap'' continues to be used informally in everyday speech and product labels, in practice nearly all kinds of "soap" in use today are actually synthetic detergents, which are less expensive, more effective, and easier to manufacture. While effort has been made to reduce their negative effect upon the environment, the results have been mixed. Soaps are useful for cleansing because soap molecules attach readily to both nonpolar molecules (such as fat grease or oil) and polar molecules (such as water). Although grease will normally adhere to skin or clothing, the soap molecules can attach to it as a "handle" and make it easier to rinse away. Allowing soap to sit on any surface (skin, clothes etc) over time can imbalance the moisture content on it and result in the dissolving of fabrics and dryness of skin. ::::(water soluble end) :CH₃-(CH₂)_n - COONa :(fatty end) The hydrocarbon ("fatty") portion dissolves dirt and oils, while the ionic end makes it soluble in water. Therefore, it allows water to remove normally-insoluble matter by emulsification.

The history and process of soap making
{{main|Soapmaking}} Image:Palmolive soap 1922 advertisement ladies home journal.jpeg thumb|200px|right|1922 magazine advertisement for Palmolive Soap The earliest known evidence of soap use are Babylonia Babylonian clay cylinders dating from 2800 BC containing a soap-like substance. A formula for soap consisting of water, alkali and cassia oil was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BC. The Ebers papyrus (Egypt, 1550 BC) indicates that Ancient Egypt ancient Egyptians bathed regularly and combined animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to create a soap-like substance. Egyptian documents mention that a soap-like substance was used in the preparation of wool for weaving. A soap factory with bars of scented soap was found in the ruins of Pompeii (79 AD). However, the ancient Romans were generally innocent of soap's detergent properties. The word "soap" appears first in a European language in Pliny the Elder's ''Natural History (Pliny) Historia Naturalis'', which discusses the manufacture of soap from tallow and ashes, but the only use he mentions for it is as a pomade for hair; he mentions rather disapprovingly that among the Gauls and Teuton Germans men are likelier to use it than women. [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/28*.html] The Arabs made the soap from vegetable oil as olive oil or some aromatic oils such as thyme oil. Sodium Lye (Al-Soda Al-Kawia) NaOH was used for the first time and the formula hasn't changed from the current soap sold in the market. From the beginning of the 7th century soap was produced in Nablus (Palestine), Kufa (Iraq) and Basra (Iraq). Arabian Soap was perfumed and coloured, some of the soaps were liquid and others were hard. They also had special soap for shaving. It was commercially sold for 3 Dirhams (0.3 Dinars) a piece in 981 AD. A story encountered in some places claims that soap takes its name from a supposed "Mount Sapo" where Ancient Rome ancient Romans sacrifice sacrificed animals. Rain would send a mix of animal tallow and wood ash down the mountain and into the clay soil on the banks of the Tiber. Eventually, women noticed that it was easier to clean clothes with this "soap". The location of Mount Sapo is unknown, as is the source of the "ancient Roman legend" to which this tale is typically credited.[http://www.algebralab.org/passage/passage.aspx?file=Chemistry_Soaps.xml] In fact, the Latin word ''sapo'' simply means "soap"; it was borrowed from a Celtic or Germanic language, and is cognate with Latin ''sebum'', "tallow", which appears in Pliny the Elder's account. Roman animal sacrifices usually burned only the bones and inedible entrails of the sacrificed animals; edible meat and fat from the sacrifices were taken by the humans rather than the gods. Animal sacrifices in the ancient world would not have included enough fat to make much soap. The legend about Mount Sapo is probably a hoax. Historically, soap was made by mixing animal fats with lye. Because of the caustic lye, this was a dangerous procedure (perhaps more dangerous than any present-day home activities) which could result in serious chemical burns or even blindness. Before commercially-produced lye was commonplace, it was produced at home for soap making from the ashes of a wood fire. Castile soap, made from olive oil, was produced in Europe as early as the 16th century. In modern times, the use of soap has become universal in industrialized nations due to a better understanding of the role of hygiene in reducing the population size of pathogenic microorganisms. Manufactured bar soaps first became available in the late nineteenth century, and advertising campaigns in Europe and the United States helped to increase popular awareness of the relationship between cleanliness and health. By the 1950s, soap had gained public acceptance as an instrument of personal hygiene.

Handmade soap
Image:Handmade soap.jpg thumb|Handmade soap Some individuals continue to make soap in the home. The traditional name "soaper", for a soapmaker, is still used by those who make soap as a hobby. Those who make their own soaps are also known as soapcrafters. The most popular soapmaking processes today is the cold process method, where fats such as olive oil react with lye. Soapmakers sometimes use the melt and pour process, where a premade soap base is melted and poured in individual molds. This is not really to be considered soap-''making'' though. Some soapers also practice other processes, such as the historical hot process, and make special soaps such as glycerin soap. Handmade soap differs from industrial soap in that, usually, an excess of fat is used to consume the alkali (''superfatting''), and in that the glycerin is not removed. Superfatted soap, soap which contains excess fat, is more skin-friendly than industrial soap though, if not properly formulated, can leave users with a "greasy" feel to their skin. Often, emollients such as jojoba oil or shea butter are added 'at trace' (the point at which the saponification process is sufficiently advanced that the soap has begun to thicken), after most of the oils have saponification saponified, so that they remain unreacted in the finished soap.

Disadvantages
Today, fat-based soaps have mostly been superseded by modern detergents. Washing agents do not contain soap for cleaning fabric, but for reducing foam. The disadvantages of commercial soaps are: *Soap deprives the skin of natural, beneficial oils. *Some antibacterial soaps have chemicals which actually kill some skin cells. *Soap-based products often contain the additive sodium laureth sulfate, which research has found to be harsh on skin. This product however is also present in many non-soap cleaners for personal hygiene (shampoos, bathfoams, etc.). *Soap can react mildly Base (chemistry) basically with fabrics resulting in damage over the long term. This is usually due to excess sodium hydroxide (sodium hydroxide NaOH, an alkali/Base (chemistry) base) left from manufacture, but can also be caused by the very slight presence of NaOH from the equilibrium reaction:
R-COO-Na + H₂O ↔ R-COO^- + Na⁺ + H₂O ↔ R-COOH + sodium hydroxide NaOH
However, this equilibrium reaction equilibrium strongly favors the left-hand side so the fraction of sodium hydroxide NaOH formed is minuscule *Soap reacts with Lime (mineral) lime to form an insoluble deposit (soap scum) in "Water Hardness hard water":
2Na⁺(R-COO)^-_(aq) + Ca²⁺(HCO₃^{-^{)₂_(aq) → 2Na⁺(HCO₃)^{-^{_(aq) + Ca(R-COO)₂_(s) - where R stands for an alkyl group (precipitate ppt)

Commercially made bar soaps are formulated to mitigate all of these disadvantages:

*A wide variety of emollient materials, such as shea or cocoa butter cocoa butters, are substantive to the skin.
*Poorly finished soaps contain alkali (sodium hydroxide NaOH) and react mildly Base (chemistry) basically with skin and fabric; commercial products are finished to neutrality or to a weak acid content to prevent this and be more compatible with the skin skin's slightly acidic pH.
*Commercial products use chelation chelating molecules (sequestrants), often EDTA derivatives to bind with any free {{Calcium}} or {{Magnesium}} ions and prevent soap scum. These also help reduce fragrance loss, discolouration and Rancidification rancidity.

See also

*Soap dispenser
*Saponin
*Unsaponifiable
*Saponification
*Soaper
*Glycerin soap
*Soapmaking
*Stainless steel soap

References

* Maine, Sandy (1995). The Soap Book: Simple Herbal Recipes. Interweave Press. ISBN 1883010144.
* Tarekh Al-Masoudi\the first book. [The Masoudi History-printed in 1989 Beirut-Lebanon]

External links

History

- Soap history by The Soap and Detergent Association

- The Discovery and Prehistory of Soap by R W Hedge at Butser Ancient Farm

- The History of Soap by C'etrange

- History of soap by the Pharmaceutical Journal

- Colonial Soap Making. Its History and Techniques. (The Soap Factory)

- Soap Naturally by Patrizia Garzena, contains a history of soap; rebuts the "Mount Sapo" legend.

Soap making

- Glossary for the Modern Soap Maker. Soap making terminology defined.

- The Soap Making Home Page

- Homemade Soap Making Tips

- Handcrafted Soap Maker's Guild

- Soap Making Instructions

- Instructions for Making Crock Pot Handmade Soap

Other

- The Columbia Encyclopedia's soap entry (via Bartleby.com)

Category:Salts
Category:Cleaning products
Category:Surfactants
Category:Skin care

cs:Mýdlo
da:Sæbe
de:Seife (Waschmittel)
et:Seep
es:Jabón
eo:Sapo
fr:Savon
it:Sapone
he:סבון
ku:Sabûn
ms:Sabun
nl:Zeep
ja:石鹸
no:Såpe
pl:Mydło
pt:Sabonete
ru:Мыло
simple:Soap
sk:Mydlo
fi:Saippua
sv:Tvål
tr:Sabun

*** Shopping-Tip: Soap}}}}