Sorry, just noticed the typo so I started again.

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I need to be able to create an XML purchase order, send it to a web server and get a response back. My problem is in finding the right place to start learning about the technologies involved in doing this.

I have not worked much with XML but creating the XML file seems fairly straight forward and I think I can use the West Wind tools to handle sending the message and receiving the response. The biggest hurdle seems to be learning about the security aspects of the transaction. It appears, so far, that implementing PKI involves some kind of third party PKI product but I'm having a hard time finding anything that gives me a clear picture on what I have to do in the program.

Since this is a vertical app, I need to make it as generic as possible but I don't know just how generic it can be and at what point I may have to say "this specific software must exist on the server".

Has anyone done this or know where I can get information other than general overview stuff ?

Thanks,
Carl