Semantic interface for publishing a web service to and discovering a web service from a web service registry

1. A method for publishing a web service to a web service registry, the method comprising:

retrieving a web service description;

acquiring a schema associated with the web service description;

extracting publication metadata relating to the web service from the schema;

generating a web service registry publication request based on the publication metadata extracted from the schema; and

submitting the web service registry publication request to the web service registry for publication.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the web service registry is a universal description, discovery and integration (UDDI) registry.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising validating the publication metadata against a predefined semantic standard, prior to the generation of the web service registry publication request.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the semantic standard is based on resource description framework (RDF).

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the semantic standard is based on web ontology language (OWL).

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting the web service registry publication request to a user for review and editing, prior to the submission to the web service registry.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the schema is an extensible markup language (XML) schema.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising determining a value of a user-defined parameter, wherein the publication metadata is extracted from the XML schema based on the user-defined parameter from a corresponding one of a plurality of levels defined by the XML schema.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the levels defined by the XML schema comprise:

(a) an annotation/appinfo schema level;

(b) an annotation/documentation schema level;

(c) a schema adjunct framework level;

(d) an annotation/appinfo container level;

(e) an annotation/documentation container level; and

(f) a discrete type-description.

10. An apparatus for publishing a web service to a web service registry, the apparatus comprising:

means for retrieving a web service description;

means for acquiring a schema associated with the web service description;

means for extracting publication metadata relating to the web service from the schema;

means for generating a web service registry publication request based on the publication metadata extracted from the schema; and

means for submitting the web service registry publication request to the web service registry for publication.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the web service registry is a universal description, discovery and integration (UDDI) registry.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising means for validating the publication metadata against a predefined semantic standard, prior to the generation of the web service registry publication request.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the semantic standard is based on resource description framework (RDF).

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the semantic standard is based on web ontology language (OWL).

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising means for presenting the web service registry publication request to a user for review and editing, prior to the submission to the web service registry.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the schema is an extensible markup language (XML) schema.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , further comprising means for determining a value of a user-defined parameter, wherein the publication metadata is extracted from the XML schema based on the user-defined parameter from a corresponding one of a plurality of levels defined by the XML schema.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the levels defined by the XML schema comprise:

(a) an annotation/appinfo schema level;

(b) an annotation/documentation schema level;

(c) a schema adjunct framework level;

(d) an annotation/appinfo container level;

(e) an annotation/documentation container level; and

(f) a discrete type-description.

19. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to assist a user in publishing a web service to a web service registry, said control logic comprising:

i) first computer readable program code for retrieving a web service description;

ii) second computer readable program code for acquiring a schema associated with the web service description;

iii) third computer readable program code for extracting publication metadata relating to the web service from the schema;

iv) fourth computer readable program code for generating a web service registry publication request based on the publication metadata extracted from the schema; and

v) fifth computer readable program code for submitting the web service registry publication request to the web service registry for publication.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the web service registry is a universal description, discovery and integration (UDDI) registry.

21. The computer program product of claim 19 , further comprising vi) sixth computer readable program code for validating the publication metadata against a predefined semantic standard, prior to the generation of the web service registry publication request.

22. The computer program product of claim 21 , wherein the semantic standard is based on resource description framework (RDF).

23. The computer program product of claim 21 , wherein the semantic standard is based on web ontology language (OWL).

24. The computer program product of claim 19 , further comprising vii) seventh computer readable program code for presenting the web service registry publication request to a user for review and editing, prior to the submission to the web service registry.

25. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the schema is an extensible markup language (XML) schema.

26. The computer program product of claim 25 , further comprising viii) eighth computer readable program code for determining a value of a user-defined parameter, wherein the publication metadata is extracted from the XML schema based on the user-defined parameter from a corresponding one of a plurality of levels defined by the XML schema.

27. The computer program product of claim 26 , wherein the levels defined by the XML schema comprise:

(a) an annotation/appinfo schema level;

(b) an annotation/documentation schema level;

(c) a schema adjunct framework level;

(d) an annotation/appinfo container level;

(e) an annotation/documentation container level; and

(f) a discrete type-description.