Application developers can use the Internet email infrastructure to move SOAP messages as either email text or attachments. The examples shown below offer one way to carry SOAP messages, and should not be construed as being the standard way of doing so. The SOAP Version 1.2 specifications do not specify such a binding. However, there is a non-normative W3C Note [SOAP Email Binding] describing an email binding for SOAP, its main purpose being to demonstrate the application of the general SOAP Protocol Binding Framework described in [SOAP Part 1].

This document describes a binding of SOAP [SOAP] into SMTP[SMTP]. Unlike previously published bindings, this binding ensures that the SOAP message is attached using Base64-encoding[BASE64] MIME[MIME] attachment. This greatly reduces the chance of mail scanners and SPAM filters modifying the SOAP body.

SOAP [1] is a lightweight protocol for exchange of information in a decentralized, distributed environment, using XML. This document details transporting SOAP messages over the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP). [2]

This document is meant to be an illustration of the SOAP 1.2 Protocol Binding Framework applied to a well known internet transport mechanism, Email, specifically rfc2822.