title: Alternatives to sending an image in base64 via document literal SOAP
body: <p>I'm currently modifying a document literal SOAP service for a business app which transfers data about customers backwards and forwards.</p>
  
  <p>A new requirement to transfer scanned document images has just been identified. The problem I have is that the proprietary language I use does not support SOAP attachments.</p>
  
  <p>The images being transferred can be anything upto 32KB.</p>
  
  <p>The only solution I can think of is to base64 encode the image, and pass it through as an element of the XML document.</p>
  
  <p>This feels like a really bad idea, but I just can't think of anything better.</p>
  
  <p>Any ideas?</p>
  
  <p>EDIT: I forgot to mention that the image isn't held remotely in a file system, it is stored in an Oracle database, which I do not have the ability to connect directly to,</p>