Data conversions between ColdFusion and WSDL data types

A WSDL file defines the input and return parameters of an operation, including data types. For example, the TemperatureService web service contains the following definition of input and return parameters:

<message name="getTempRequest">
   <part name="zipcode" type="xsd:string"/>
</message>
<message name="getTempResponse">
   <part name="return" type="xsd:float"/>
</message>

As part of consuming web services, you must understand how ColdFusion MX converts WSDL defined data types to ColdFusion data types. The following table shows this conversion:

ColdFusion data type	WSDL data type
numeric	SOAP-ENC:double
boolean	SOAP-ENC:boolean
string	SOAP-ENC:string
array	SOAP-ENC:Array
binary	xsd:base64Binary
numeric	xsd:float
string	xsd:enumeration
date	xsd:dateTime
void (operation returns nothing)
struct	complex type
query	tns1:QueryBean (Returned by CFCs)

For many of the most common data types, such as string and numeric, a WSDL data type maps directly to a ColdFusion data type. For complex WSDL data types, the mapping is not as straight forward. In many cases, you map a complex WSDL data type to a ColdFusion structure. For more information on handling complex data types, see Handling complex data types.

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