The Web Service Shell (WSS) is a web service that can be configured via simple properties files to utilize external resources (either command-line programs or Java classes) to fulfill web service requests.
WSS was written with the goal of removing the barriers to creating a modern web service (under certain constraints) for delivering data. It allows command line, *nix-based, programs to be executed from a pre-written Java servlet. Moreover, WSS can be configured via properties files to execute any command line program (or script) conforming to its requirements.
WSS provides basic request parameter validation as well as HTTP authentication (via the servlet container). It also provides usage logging, operational logging, and various other mundane functions required of an HTTP server.
The WSS can also be configured to use a Java class rather than a command line program to fulfill the data retrieval. More details about using Java classes with the WSS can be found in the developer notes