System and method for managing a plurality of web services

1. A non-transitory computer accessible memory medium for managing a plurality of web services in a service oriented architecture (SOA), wherein the memory medium stores:

a registry including a description for at least one of the plurality of web services in the SOA, wherein the description of the at least one web service comprises:

a first endpoint for a first runtime condition, wherein the first endpoint comprises a first entry point to the at least one web service in the SOA; and

a second endpoint for a second runtime condition, wherein the second endpoint comprises a second entry point to the at least one web service in the SOA;

wherein the first and second endpoints are defined in at least one Web Services Description Language (WSDL) document for the web service, wherein the first and second endpoints are defined as a property component of the at least one WSDL document, and wherein the value of the property component is determined during runtime;

wherein the registry further stores information about a development stage of an application that uses the plurality of web services in the SOA, and wherein the registry causes an appropriate selection of one of the first and second endpoints during runtime depending on the stored information.

2. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the memory medium comprises program instructions executable by a processor to:

select one of the first and second endpoints during runtime depending on an evaluation of environmental information concerning the runtime condition provided by an application calling the web service.

3. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the memory medium comprises program instructions executable by a processor to:

select one of the first and second endpoints during runtime depending on the runtime condition stored in the registry.

4. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the first and second endpoints are defined in a first and a second WSDL document for the web service, which are related to each other.

5. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the first and second endpoints are defined in a single WSDL document for the web service.

6. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 5 , wherein the value of the property component is determined during runtime using a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) module of a request for the web service.

7. The non-transitory memory medium claim 1 , wherein the registry is a Universal Description, Discover, and Integration (UDDI) registry.

8. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the first endpoint is configured for testing an application calling the at least one web service.

9. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the second endpoint is configured for deployment of an application calling the at least one web service.

10. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the registry further comprises a third endpoint for a third runtime condition.

11. The non-transitory memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the memory medium comprises program instructions executable by a processor to:

monitor the endpoints of the plurality of web services during runtime; and

issue a warning if a first web service is called with an endpoint for a first runtime condition and a second web service is called with an endpoint for a second runtime condition.

12. A method for managing a plurality of web services in a service oriented architecture (SOA), the method comprising:

storing a description for at least one of the plurality of web services in a registry, wherein the description of the at least one web service comprises:

a first endpoint for a first runtime condition, wherein the first endpoint comprises a first entry point to the at least one web service in the SOA; and

a second endpoint for a second runtime condition, wherein the second endpoint comprises a second entry point to the at least one web service in the SOA; and

wherein the first and second endpoints are defined in at least one Web Services Description Language (WSDL) document for the web service, wherein the first and second endpoints are defined as a property component of the at least one WSDL document, and wherein the value of the property component is determined during runtime; and

wherein the registry further stores information about a development stage of an application that uses the plurality of web services in the SOA, and wherein the registry causes an appropriate selection of one of the first and second endpoints during runtime depending on the stored information.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

selecting one of the first and second endpoints during runtime depending on the evaluation of environmental information concerning the runtime condition provided by an application calling the web service.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

storing the runtime condition in the registry; and

selecting one of the first and second endpoints during runtime.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein said storing a description comprises storing a first WSDL document for the web service indicating the first endpoint and storing a second WSDL document for the web service indicating the second endpoint, wherein the first and second WSDL documents are stored in the registry as related WSDL documents.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein said storing a description comprises storing a single WSDL document for the web service with property components indicating the first and second endpoints.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the values of the property components are determined during runtime using a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) module of a request for the web service.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the registry is a Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) registry.

19. The method of claim 12 , further comprising using the first endpoint for testing an application calling the at least one web service.

20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

using the second endpoint for deployment of an application calling the at least one web service.

21. The method of claim 12 , wherein the registry further comprises a third endpoint for a third runtime condition.

22. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

monitoring the endpoints of the plurality of web services during runtime and issuing a warning, if a first web service is called with an endpoint for a first runtime condition and a second web service is called with an endpoint for a second runtime condition.