#5 [xhtml]

Thag Must Understand Header

  • The soap:mustUnderstand attribute is a strange beast.

  • When soap:mustUnderstand="true" is present that header element must be understood by the receiving application.

  • Err? What's that mean, boss? Maybe:

    • You reject all messages with header elements that you don't understand where the 'mustUnderstand' attribute is true.

    • You see that there is a mustUnderstand attribute and ignore it. Maybe you understand it and maybe you don't. This is like punting on a test (e.g. answering "7" or "C" when you don't know).

    • You don't look at the mustUnderstand attribute and so you lie and act like you understand it.

    • You reject all messages with mustUnderstand because you can't understand mustUnderstand.