# Introduction

The Document Service is a collection of four operations (methods) that provide a means to exchange data (information) and files (package documents as PDF files) between the Document Generation Services (DGS) and other systems including third-party applications. The service retrieves document packet information, order and status information, and enables applications to request forms and form information from the Expere engine.

The Document Service service uses XML-based standards through a common transport protocol. Using these standard tools, an application can access a service based on a WSDL (Web Service Definition Language) file by using Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP).