VB client can't access results from Axis 1.2 service returning arr

[Anand Natrajan]

Hi!

I have a VB .NET client that is accessing an rpc/encoded service deployed in Axis 1.2. One of the operations, whoami, returns a string array. The server-side Java signature of this method is
String[] whoami(MyPrinci pal principal)
My .NET client is unable to access the results of that array. The odd thing is that the very same client was able to access the results when the same service was deloyed in Axis 1.1. I've asked the Axis folks what the problem may be and they insist that the response sent by Axis 1.2 is correct. According to them Axis 1.1 may have had a bug and .NET just accidentally happened to work. Below I show a snippet of the response that causes a problem.

When the VB .NET client accessed the same operation with Axis 1.1, the response snippet looked like this:
<ns1:whoamiResp onse
soapenv:encodin gStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap .org/soap/encoding/"
xmlns:ns1="urn: MyAPIRpcEnc">
<whoamiReturn soapenc:arrayTy pe="xsd:string[9]"
xsi:type="soape nc:Array"
xmlns:soapenc=" http://schemas.xmlsoap .org/soap/encoding/">
...

When the same VB .NET client accesses the same operation with Axis 1.2, the response looks like this:
<ns1:whoamiResp onse
soapenv:encodin gStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap .org/soap/encoding/"
xmlns:ns1="urn: MyAPIRpcEnc">
<whoamiReturn soapenc:arrayTy pe="soapenc:str ing[9]"
xmlns:soapenc=" http://schemas.xmlsoap .org/soap/encoding/">
...

As you can see the only significant difference is the namespace associated with "string" in the whoamiReturn segment - with 1.1 it is "xsd", and with 1.2 it is "soapenc".

The client works as expected with 1.1. With 1.2, when the whoami operation is executed, VB responds with the following error:
Unhandled Exception: System.InvalidO perationExcepti on: There is an error in XML
document (1, 308). ---> System.InvalidO perationExcepti on: The specified type was
not recognized: name='string', namespace='http ://schemas.xmlsoap .org/soap/encoding/', at <whoamiReturn xmlns=''>.
at System.Xml.Seri alization.XmlSe rializationRead er.GetPrimitive Type(XmlQualifi edName typeName, Boolean throwOnUnknown)
at System.Xml.Seri alization.XmlSe rializationRead er.ReadArray(St ring typeName, String typeNs)
at System.Xml.Seri alization.XmlSe rializationRead er.ReadReferenc ingElement(Stri ng name, String ns, Boolean elementCanBeTyp e, String& fixupReference)
at System.Xml.Seri alization.XmlSe rializationRead er.ReadReferenc ingElement(Stri ng name, String ns, String& fixupReference)
at Microsoft.Xml.S erialization.Ge neratedAssembly .XmlSerializati onReader1.Read7 0_whoamiRespons e()
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at System.Xml.Seri alization.XmlSe rializer.Deseri alize(XmlReader xmlReader, String encodingStyle)
at System.Xml.Seri alization.XmlSe rializer.Deseri alize(XmlReader xmlReader)
at System.Web.Serv ices.Protocols. SoapHttpClientP rotocol.ReadRes ponse(SoapClien tMessage message, WebResponse response, Stream responseStream, Boolean asyncCall)
at System.Web.Serv ices.Protocols. SoapHttpClientP rotocol.Invoke( String methodName, Object[] parameters)
at DotNetWSAPITest .MyAPIRpcEnc.My APIRpcEncServic e.whoami(MyPrin cipal principal)
at DotNetWSAPITest .DotNetWSAPITes t.actualTests(M yPrincipal principal)
at DotNetWSAPITest .DotNetWSAPITes t.testMyWSAPI()
at DotNetWSAPITest .DotNetWSAPITes t.Main()

Any ideas why this may be happening? Why isn't .NET able to recognise the namespace for "string"?

Thanks!

Anand