ProcessWebServicesDocument

Question

I was just reading the updated iTunesU Admin Guide, and noticed that there is a new method called ProcessWebServicesDocument. It appears that this method allows sending Web Services Document without doing multipart file attachments - is my understanding correct?
If that's the case, I don't quite get what the second example on page 62 is doing and why. Here is an excerpt:
--begin quote--
iTunes U also provides a two-step process for uploading your document, using the raw XML data and the ProcessWebServicesDocument operation:
1. Request an authorization token from your new or updated transfer script. For details, see "Uploading Content Using iTunes U Web Services" in Chapter 5.
2. Invoke a POST of the raw XML data, using the authorization token from step 1, to the ProcessWebServicesDocument operation.
For example, type:
/usr/bin/curl --data-binary @/pathtofile.xml -s <url from step 2>
A ProcessWebServicesDocument request might look like the following:
(echo -n 'url=' && echo -n `/usr/bin/curl -s 'https://deimos.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/API/ProcessWebServicesDocument/ex ample.edu.1.2.3?credentials=foo&identity=user&time=123456&signature=abc123abc123 &type=XMLControlFile'`) | curl -F file=@/Users/yourshortusername/SampleXML/yourXMLOperationFile.xml
--end quote--
It would appear that this is still doing a multipart upload, due to the "curl -F" at the end, rather than a raw POST which the first example would accomplish with the "--data-binary" argument. Can anyone explain what this complex shell command does, and what the real purpose of ProcessWebServicesDocument is?
Thanks,
Dave

Answer 1

Very curious. Dave, I admit to being as confused as you. It looks as though the manual is saying ProcessWebServicesDocument goes with www-urlencoded ... then it looks like it's saying that ProcessWebServicesDocument and GetUploadURL are the same thing.
The real way to test it would be with code. I might play with it later tonight if Duncan does not snag this question first. If it does let you upload XML as www-urlencoded, I'm not sure it'd be buying that much, since you have to use multipart-MIME to upload content files ... and, to your code, a content file and an XML file are pretty much the same thing (a bag o' bytes).