The OGC Web Processing Service (WPS) Interface Standard provides rules for standardizing inputs and outputs (requests and responses) for invoking geospatial processing services, such as polygon overlay, as a

web service A web service (WS) is either: * a service offered by an electronic device to another electronic device, communicating with each other via the Internet, or * a server running on a computer device, listening for requests at a particular port over a n ...

. The WPS standard defines how a client can request the execution of a process, and how the output from the process is handled. It defines an interface that facilitates the publishing of geospatial processes and clients’ discovery of and binding to those processes. The data required by the WPS can be delivered across a network or they can be available at the server. WPS can describe any calculation (i.e. process) including all of its inputs and outputs, and trigger its execution as a web service. WPS supports simultaneous exposure of processes via

HTTP HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, wher ...

GET,

POST Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...

, and

SOAP Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

, thus allowing the client to choose the most appropriate interface mechanism. The specific processes served up by a WPS implementation are defined by the owner of that implementation. Although WPS was designed to work with spatially referenced data, it can be used with any kind of data. WPS makes it possible to publish, find, and bind to processes in a standardized and thus interoperable fashion. Theoretically, it is transport/platform neutral (like

), but in practice it has only been specified for

Operations

WPS defines three operations: # ''GetCapabilities'' returns service-level

metadata Metadata (or metainformation) is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive ...

# ''DescribeProcess'' returns a description of a process including its inputs and outputs # ''Execute'' returns the output(s) of a process WPS operations are invoked by submitting

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing data. It defines a set of rules for encoding electronic document, documents in a format that is both human-readable and Machine-r ...

or URL-encoded requests to an ''Online Resource URL''. When requesting an ''Execute'' operation the HTTP request identifies the inputs, the name of process to be executed, and the form of output to be provided.

Properties

WPS has the following properties: # Inputs can be web-accessible URLs or embedded in the request. # Outputs can be stored as web-accessible URLs or embedded in the response. # For a single output such as a

GIF The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , ) is a Raster graphics, bitmap Image file formats, image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released ...

image, WPS can return the output directly, without any XML wrapper. # It supports multiple input and output formats. # It supports long-running processes. # It supports

and

WSDL The Web Services Description Language (WSDL ) is an XML-based interface description language that is used for describing the functionality offered by a web service. The acronym is also used for any specific WSDL description of a web service (also ...

. A WPS is usually not invoked directly. More often, it is invoked by a client application that provides the user with interactive controls. This client application may or may not be web-based. WPS version 2.0 was released in 2015. Previous version 1.0.0 was released to the public in June 2007. Version 0.4.0 was released as an OGC Request for Public Comment in 2005 and implemented by several early adopters.

External links

OpenGIS Web Processing Service (WPS) Standard, Version 1.0.0

WPS resources at geoprocessing.info

OSGeoEvaluation of WPS 0.4.0

OGC WPS Interoperability Experiment press release

OGC WPS Request for Public Comments

deegree
Open source

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

implementation (WPS 0.4.0
WPS 1.0.0
with example processes
WPSint
Open source

implementation of WPS 0.4.0 (includes a generic client)
PyWPS
Open source

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (prog ...

implementation of WPS 1.0.0
ZOO Project WPS
implementation of WPS 1.0.0 and 2.0.0
WPS.NET
Open source .NET implementation of WPS 1.0.0
QGIS WPS client

OGC-Services.NET - Free List of OGC Services
(New Services can be added manually)
OpenLayers
Contains WPS Parser {{OGC Cartography GIS software Open Geospatial Consortium

Operations

Properties

See also

External links