If you work with PromoStandards integrations, you know the drill. You need to test a supplier's SOAP endpoint. The PromoStandards web service validator exists and it works — but before you can send a single request, you need to answer a few questions:
- Where is the endpoint URL?
- What are my credentials?
- What does the SOAP envelope look like for this service and version?
- Did I get the XML namespaces right?
By the time you've tracked all of that down, what should have been a two-minute test has turned into a thirty-minute scavenger hunt through emails, Slack threads, and old documentation.
Everything Is Prefilled
That's the core difference with PSRESTful's Web Service Validator. When you select a supplier from the dropdown, the tool already knows:
- The endpoint URL — resolved automatically for each service and version
- Your credentials — stored securely and applied per supplier
- The SOAP envelope — auto-generated with correct namespaces, ready to send
The only thing you typically need to change is the product ID. Select your supplier, pick the service (Product Data, Inventory, Order Status, etc.), and hit send. That's it.
No hunting. No copy-pasting from old integration tickets. No debugging malformed XML because you forgot a namespace.
Five Ways to Read the Response
Raw SOAP XML is hard to scan. The Web Service Validator gives you five tabs to view every response:
- XML — The raw SOAP response with syntax highlighting, useful for debugging at the protocol level
- JSON — The same data as typed JSON, matching exactly what PSRESTful's REST API returns
- Protobuf — Binary Protocol Buffers format for maximum efficiency
- Human — Nested, readable tables designed for non-technical stakeholders
- Stats — Side-by-side format comparison with visual size charts
The Stats Tell the Story
The Stats tab is where things get interesting. For a typical getProduct response from SanMar:
| Format | Size | vs XML |
|---|---|---|
| XML | 9.2 KB | 100% |
| JSON | 5.0 KB | 55% |
| Protobuf | 2.0 KB | 21% |
That's not a contrived benchmark — it's a real response from a real supplier. Protobuf delivers the same data at 21% the size of XML and 39% the size of JSON. For high-volume integrations pulling inventory or product data across hundreds of SKUs, those savings compound fast.
Who Is This For?
Distributors — You're onboarding a new supplier or troubleshooting why product data looks wrong. Instead of filing a support ticket and waiting, open the validator, pick the supplier, and see exactly what their endpoint returns. Right now.
Developers — You're building or maintaining a PromoStandards integration. Skip the manual XML crafting. Test any service, any version, any operation — and compare the response in JSON or Protobuf to decide which format fits your architecture.
Suppliers — You've updated your PromoStandards implementation and need to verify it's working. The validator hits your endpoint the same way any distributor would, so you can catch issues before your partners do.
Try It
The Web Service Validator is available to all PSRESTful users. If you're already on the platform, you'll find it in your dashboard. If you're new, you can get started here.
For the full feature breakdown, check out the Web Service Validator landing page.
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