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Copyright © 2007 Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Table 14 — DescribeProcess operation request URL parameters
Name and example
a
Optionality Definition and format
service=WPS Mandatory
Service type identifier request=DescribeProcess
Mandatory Operation name
version=1.0.0 Mandatory WPS specification and schema version for this operation
Language=en-CA Optional
Language of the human readable text in the response. Identifier=intersection,union
b
Mandatory List of one or more process identifiers as listed in the
Capabilities document, separated by commas
a All parameter names are here listed using mostly lower case letters. However, any parameter name capitalization shall be
allowed in KVP encoding, see Subclause 11.5.2 of [OGC 06-121r3]. b
The use of the Identifier ALL is restricted as an option for an Identifier in the DescribeProcess operation. When Identifier=ALL, the DescribeProcess operation shall return process descriptions for all processes served up by the WPS
instance. EXAMPLE
An example DescribeProcess operation request KVP encoded for HTTP GET is: http:foo.barfoo
? Service=WPS
Request=DescribeProcess Version=1.0.0
Language=en-CA Identifier=intersection,union
9.2.3 DescribeProcess HTTP POST request XML encoding
optional
WPS servers may also implement HTTP POST transfer of the DescribeProcess operation request, using XML encoding only. The following schema specifies the contents and
structure of a DescribeProcess operation request encoded in XML:
wpsDescribeProcess_request.xsd EXAMPLE: An example DescribeProcess operation request XML encoded for HTTP
POST is: examples\30_wpsDescribeProcess_request.xml
9.3 DescribeProcess operation response
9.3.1 DescribeProcess response parameters
The normal response to a valid DescribeProcess operation request shall be a ProcessDescriptions data structure, which contains one or more Process Descriptions for
the requested process identifiers .
Each Process Description includes the brief information
returned in the ProcessOfferings section of the service metadata Capabilities document, plus descriptions of the input and output parameters. Each process can have any number
of input and output parameters.
Copyright © 2007 Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
19 Each parameter is described by a data structure that specifies the allowable formats,
encodings, and units of measure when applicable. For each input parameter, the process can indicate that it needs one of the following:
a ―ComplexData‖ such as XML or imagery, in one of the following allowable
combinations of format mimetype, encoding, and schema. The value of this complex data structure can be either directly encoded in the Execute operation
request or made available through a web accessible URL.
b ―LiteralData‖, with a specified data type, allowable values, default value, and
allowable unit of measure indicated.
c BoundingBoxData, using one of the supported coordinate reference systems. For each output parameter, the process can indicate similar information about the
corresponding forms of output parameters. Again, there are three types of process outputs: ComplexOutput, LiteralOutput, and BoundingBoxOutput.
More precisely, a response from the DescribeProcess operation shall be a ProcessDescriptions data structure that includes one or more ProcessDescription data
structures, as listed in