A service based interface for scientific data retrieval

Retrieval of scientific data at large fusion experiments is an important but surprisingly complicated task. There are many different data storage systems that have to be accessed using different software interfaces on varying platforms. With MDS+ a respectable approach towards a more standardised and simplified data access interface was started. However, it has its drawbacks regarding continuously acquired data and provides a whole data storage system rather than only an interface, which is not always demanded. Therefore, a data access interface based on service oriented technologies has been developed aiming for a more standardised and platform independent solution. The contribution will describe the current status of this development. It will explain the interface itself including the WSDL (Web Service Description Language) definition and show currently existing service implementations for the Wendelstein 7-X and the Wendelstein 7-AS data storage systems. Furthermore different possibilities to access the services on the client side will be discussed.