[news.eclipse.newcomer] web services / loginhandler service

["plork123" <plork123@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

I'm writing some web services. The first web service is a logonhandler 
service. Where credentials are passed through and if the user is valid, 
generates a token. The token stored in a db. Then once the user is validated 
they have permission to use other web services.

My question, has anyone done something simliar to what I am trying to 
achieve? What is the best approach to take?

What I don't want is for a user to keep loging on, as this will be a pain in 
the backside. So what i'm thinking is generating a token, with a timestamp 
and keep checking the timestamp.

If the user hasn't done anything for say 30 mins, log them out.

What is the best way to check the timestamp for activity?

Sorry for all the naive questions, as you can probably tell i'm new to web 
services, and the information we hold is confidential, so the login service 
has to be secure

I hope someone can help

thanks