public interface SOAPMessageContext extends javax.xml.rpc.handler.MessageContext {
// Public Instance Methods
    public abstract javax.xml.soap.SOAPMessage getMessage(  ); 
    public abstract String[ ] getRoles(  ); 
    public abstract void setMessage( javax.xml.soap.SOAPMessage message)
}

The SOAPMessageContext interface represents the context information passed between JAX-RPC message handlers that are placed in the processing pipeline for an incoming or outgoing message, when that message is constructed according to the rules of the SOAP 1.1 specification. An instance of this interface is passed as an argument to the handleRequest( ), handleResponse( ), and handleFault( ) methods of each SOAP message handler in the pipeline.

Most of the functionality of this interface is inherited from MessageContext, from which it is derived. The SOAPMessageContext interface adds only three methods, all of which are specific to SOAP as the underlying message protocol. The getRoles( ) method returns the set of SOAP roles that apply to the handler chain within which the SOAPMessageContext object is being used. This information is obtained by the runtime system from configuration information associated with the handler chain. The setMessage( ) method is used by the JAX-RPC runtime to store a reference to the message being processed so that handlers can retrieve it by calling getMessage( ). A handler may also use the setMessage( ) method to change the message being processed. This is typically done when a handler detects an error and wishes to prevent the original message from being sent, and to substitute a SOAP fault message that is returned to the client. A substitution of the response message for a fault or other message may also take place on the server side.