The new version 6.1 of SOAPscope adds an incremental upgrade to the main product, which is used across the whole life cycle by the entire team. For the new release, Mindreef adds the ability to set up security profiles so you don't have to recreate the profile of every certificate, token, or encryption requirement with each new web service.

But the highlight is the continued unbundling of SOAPscope Server; on this go-round, Mindreef is breaking out individual, desktop client tools intended for smaller scale use by one person at a time. The rationale is that most organizations don't do big bang migrations to SOA, but instead start with modest projects and small teams doing one or two web services at a time.

The result is three new separate desktop editions that individually target architects, developers, and regression testers.

SOAPscope Developer 6.1 is the base product, intended for learning and basic diagnostics of a web service. This is the ad hoc tool used by the developer where you load the WSDL (the web service description) and view the service contract in something close to plain English (the angle brackets are removed for readability). Testing is conducted through a form, rather than a test script, and you can eliminate or add external actions like log in and authentication.

The next piece is SOAPscope Architect 6.1, which tests whether rules for web services comply with enterprise policies and standards like WS-I or WSDL, or that XML Schema is well-formed. And you can set design standards for rules so you don't have to reinvent the wheel each time. Finally, there’s SOAPscope Tester 6.1, which lets you perform regression testing of the service to exercise it early on.

The deconstruction of Mindreef’s products has been ongoing since release of the 6.0 version last June. Back then, the company introduced a plug-in architecture that broke out architecture and XML Schema checks, and adding the beginnings of today’s policy compliance and regression testing features.

When we reviewed the release last June, we noted that Mindreef was for the first time trying to reach beyond the QA specialist ghetto to architect. In traditional application development, where duties are highly silo’ed, that would have been a stretch (theoretically, with SOA it’s supposed to be different). With version 6.1, they have now broken out separate products for these new constituencies.

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