Web-Services with a Collection of a custom object

[hellrazor]

Hi there,

I'm trying to consume a web-service that is supposed to return a
collection of a custom object. The web-service was not created with C# or
VS.net. It was created with IBM VisualAge Smalltalk 6. I haven't had
problems consuming other web-services but c# seems to choke with
"Collection" return types. The collection (or array) is supposed to
contain three instances of a custom object called PsmWsResult, which has
two variable members: code, and description.
If you'd like to try to see an example of this problem you can add the
following web-reference to your project:

http://216.18.68.93:9999/CollectionWsInterface.wsdl
(The browser window will say that there are no functions found, but they
are there)
After adding the web-reference and renaming it "CollectionsTest", I
created a plain vanilla windows app and inserted the following into the
form load event:

CollectionsTest.CollectionWsInterface ws =
new CollectionsTest.CollectionWsInterface();

//PsmWsCollection seems to be the return object
//which is supposed to be a collection.
CollectionsTest.PsmWsCollection wsCollection;

wsCollection = ws.getCollection();

At this point, the debugger halts execution here:

"CollectionsTest\Reference.cs"

-------------------------------
[System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapRpcMethodAttribu te
("http://www.CollectionWsInterface.com/CollectionWsInterface-
interface/getCollectio" +
"n", RequestNamespace="urn:CollectionWsInterface",
ResponseNamespace="urn:CollectionWsInterface")]
[return: System.Xml.Serialization.SoapElementAttribute("out MsgText")]
public PsmWsCollection getCollection() {

//debugger breaks at the following line!

object[] results = this.Invoke("getCollection", new object[0]);
return ((PsmWsCollection)(results[0]));
}
-------------------------------

The first lines of the stack trace:

-------------------------------
Unhandled Exception: System.InvalidOperationException: There is an error
in XML document (16, 14). ---> System.InvalidCastException: Cannot assign
object of type WindowsApplication3.CollectionsTest.PsmWsResult to an
object of type WindowsApplication3.CollectionsTest.PsmWsResult[].
at
Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlS erializationReader1.Rea
d1_PsmWsCollection()
-------------------------------

Which leads me to believe that the collection is being returned as an
array itself. I'm stuck at this point, how do I cast the return type to
be an array of itself??

If I try the following:

wsCollection = (CollectionsTest.PsmWsCollection[])ws.getCollection();

I get a "Cannot convert type" error when compiling.
I tried invoking the getCollection function using "Web Service Studio"
and it chokes on it as well!
If anyone has any clue on what I should do to correct this, I'd
appreciate it!

Thanks!

Jorge

[erymuzuan]

I gave it a try a few times, the WSDL is somehow using RPC/encoded which
is the heart of the problem. Look in at the return SoapEnvelope I could
at leat get to the raw Xml and the only way i could come out with is
using Xml, and XPath to rebuild the object
to get to the raw messages all you need to do is override on method in
the proxy
protected override WebResponse GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
{
WebResponse r = base.GetWebResponse (request);
XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load(r.GetResponseStream());
Console.WriteLine("------------------------\r\n{0}",
doc.DocumentElement.OuterXml);
return r;
}

------------ RETURN ENVELOPE ----------------->

ResponseCode: 200 (Ok)
Content-Type:text/xml
Content-Length:1116

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<SOAP-ENV:Envelope
SOAP-ENV:encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/"
xmlns:mrwi="http://www.CollectionWsInterface.com/CollectionWsInterface/xsd"
xmlns:SOAP-ENV="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
xmlns:SOAP-ENC="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<SOAP-ENV:Body>
<cwi:getCollectionOut xmlns:cwi="urn:CollectionWsInterface">
<outMsgText href="#id1" />
</cwi:getCollectionOut>
<multiRef1 xsi:type="mrwi:PsmWsCollection" id="id1">
<element xsi:type="mrwi:PsmWsResult">
<code xsi:type="xsd:string">1</code>
<description xsi:type="xsd:string">1</description>
</element>
<element xsi:type="mrwi:PsmWsResult">
<code xsi:type="xsd:string">2</code>
<description xsi:type="xsd:string">2</description>
</element>
<element xsi:type="mrwi:PsmWsResult">
<code xsi:type="xsd:string">3</code>
<description xsi:type="xsd:string">3</description>
</element>
</multiRef1>
</SOAP-ENV:Body>
</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>
Regards
Erymuzuan Mustapa

hellrazor wrote:

Hi there,

I'm trying to consume a web-service that is supposed to return a
collection of a custom object. The web-service was not created with C# or
VS.net. It was created with IBM VisualAge Smalltalk 6. I haven't had
problems consuming other web-services but c# seems to choke with
"Collection" return types. The collection (or array) is supposed to
contain three instances of a custom object called PsmWsResult, which has
two variable members: code, and description.
If you'd like to try to see an example of this problem you can add the
following web-reference to your project:

http://216.18.68.93:9999/CollectionWsInterface.wsdl
(The browser window will say that there are no functions found, but they
are there)
After adding the web-reference and renaming it "CollectionsTest", I
created a plain vanilla windows app and inserted the following into the
form load event:

CollectionsTest.CollectionWsInterface ws =
new CollectionsTest.CollectionWsInterface();

//PsmWsCollection seems to be the return object
//which is supposed to be a collection.
CollectionsTest.PsmWsCollection wsCollection;

wsCollection = ws.getCollection();

At this point, the debugger halts execution here:

"CollectionsTest\Reference.cs"

-------------------------------
[System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapRpcMethodAttribu te
("http://www.CollectionWsInterface.com/CollectionWsInterface-
interface/getCollectio" +
"n", RequestNamespace="urn:CollectionWsInterface",
ResponseNamespace="urn:CollectionWsInterface")]
[return: System.Xml.Serialization.SoapElementAttribute("out MsgText")]
public PsmWsCollection getCollection() {

//debugger breaks at the following line!

object[] results = this.Invoke("getCollection", new object[0]);
return ((PsmWsCollection)(results[0]));
}
-------------------------------

The first lines of the stack trace:

-------------------------------
Unhandled Exception: System.InvalidOperationException: There is an error
in XML document (16, 14). ---> System.InvalidCastException: Cannot assign
object of type WindowsApplication3.CollectionsTest.PsmWsResult to an
object of type WindowsApplication3.CollectionsTest.PsmWsResult[].
at
Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlS erializationReader1.Rea
d1_PsmWsCollection()
-------------------------------

Which leads me to believe that the collection is being returned as an
array itself. I'm stuck at this point, how do I cast the return type to
be an array of itself??

If I try the following:

wsCollection = (CollectionsTest.PsmWsCollection[])ws.getCollection();

I get a "Cannot convert type" error when compiling.
I tried invoking the getCollection function using "Web Service Studio"
and it chokes on it as well!
If anyone has any clue on what I should do to correct this, I'd
appreciate it!

Thanks!

Jorge

[hellrazor]

erymuzuan <er*******@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:es**************@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl:

I gave it a try a few times, the WSDL is somehow using RPC/encoded
which is the heart of the problem. Look in at the return SoapEnvelope
I could at leat get to the raw Xml and the only way i could come out
with is using Xml, and XPath to rebuild the object
to get to the raw messages all you need to do is override on method in
the proxy
protected override WebResponse GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
{
WebResponse r = base.GetWebResponse (request);
XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load(r.GetResponseStream());
Console.WriteLine("------------------------\r\n{0}",
doc.DocumentElement.OuterXml);
return r;
}

Hi,

thanks for your reply.

Would you be able to tell me exactly where I should stick this code?

Would it be within my form1.cs code, or do I need to create another class?

Thank you!

[erymuzuan]

in your proxy class, and you can exposed the XMLDocument as property if
you wish.

//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// <autogenerated>
// This code was generated by a tool.
// Runtime Version: 1.1.4322.2032
//
// Changes to this file may cause incorrect behavior and will be
lost if
// the code is regenerated.
// </autogenerated>
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------

//
// This source code was auto-generated by wsdl, Version=1.1.4322.2032.
//
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System;
using System.Web.Services.Protocols;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Web.Services;
/// <remarks/>
[System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute()]
[System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("c ode")]
[System.Web.Services.WebServiceBindingAttribute(Nam e="CollectionWsInterfaceBinding",
Namespace="http://www.CollectionWsInterface.com/CollectionWsInterface-interface")]
public class CollectionWsInterface :
System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtoc ol {

private XMLDocument m_doc;
// - create the XMlDocumnet property
public XmlDocument GetColllection()
{
// invoke the getCollection -> ignore the return values
this.Collection();

if(null != m_doc)
return m_doc;

throw new Exception("Document is not properly initialized");

}

protected override WebResponse GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
{
WebResponse r = base.GetWebResponse (request);
m_doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load(r.GetResponseStream());
return r;
}
/// <remarks/>
public CollectionWsInterface() {
this.Url = "http://216.18.68.93:7374/SstWSServlet";
}

/// <remarks/>

[System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapRpcMethodAttribu te("http://www.CollectionWsInterface.com/CollectionWsInterface-interface/getCollectio"
+
"n", RequestNamespace="urn:CollectionWsInterface",
ResponseNamespace="urn:CollectionWsInterface")]
[return: System.Xml.Serialization.SoapElementAttribute("out MsgText")]
public PsmWsCollection getCollection() {
object[] results = this.Invoke("getCollection", new object[0]);
return ((PsmWsCollection)(results[0]));
}

/// <remarks/>
public System.IAsyncResult BegingetCollection(System.AsyncCallback
callback, object asyncState) {
return this.BeginInvoke("getCollection", new object[0],
callback, asyncState);
}

/// <remarks/>
public PsmWsCollection EndgetCollection(System.IAsyncResult
asyncResult) {
object[] results = this.EndInvoke(asyncResult);
return ((PsmWsCollection)(results[0]));
}
}

/// <remarks/>
[System.Xml.Serialization.SoapTypeAttribute("PsmWsC ollection",
"http://www.CollectionWsInterface.com/CollectionWsInterface/xsd")]
public class PsmWsCollection {

/// <remarks/>
public PsmWsResult[] element;
}

/// <remarks/>
[System.Xml.Serialization.SoapTypeAttribute("PsmWsR esult",
"http://www.CollectionWsInterface.com/CollectionWsInterface/xsd")]
public class PsmWsResult {

/// <remarks/>
public string code;

/// <remarks/>
public string description;
}

[hellrazor]

erymuzuan,

Thanks a lot for your help, please see my comments below

erymuzuan <er*******@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:OC**************@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl:

<snip>

/// <remarks/>
[System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute()]
[System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("c ode")]
[System.Web.Services.WebServiceBindingAttribute(Nam e="CollectionWsInter
faceBinding",
Namespace="http://www.CollectionWsInterface.com/CollectionWsInterface-i
nterface")] public class CollectionWsInterface :
System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtoc ol {

private XMLDocument m_doc;
// - create the XMlDocumnet property
public XmlDocument GetColllection()
{
// invoke the getCollection -> ignore the return values
this.getCollection();

if(null != m_doc)
return m_doc;

throw new Exception("Document is not properly initialized");

}
Where is the above function called from? Should I call GetCollection()
instead of getCollection() where I call the web-service function?

example:
CollectionsTest.CollectionWsInterface ws = new
CollectionsTest.CollectionWsInterface();
wsCollection = ws.GetCollection();

or should I be calling the GetCollection() function from elsewhere
protected override WebResponse GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
{
WebResponse r = base.GetWebResponse (request);
m_doc = new XmlDocument();
doc.Load(r.GetResponseStream());
return r;
}

I can write the return envelope to the console (using the example in your
previous post) but it's one long string with no breaking lines.

Soon after the GetWebResponse function executes, it crashes at the
function:

public PsmWsCollection getCollection() {
// - crashes at the below line!
object[] results = this.Invoke("getCollection", new object[0]);
return ((PsmWsCollection)(results[0]));
}
The stack trace says:

Unhandled Exception: System.Xml.XmlException: The root element is
missing.
at System.Xml.XmlTextReader.Read()
at System.Xml.XmlReader.MoveToContent()
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtoc ol.ReadResponse
(SoapClientMessage message, WebResponse response, Stream responseStream,
Boolean asyncCall)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtoc ol.Invoke(String
methodName, Object[] parameters)

Thanks for your help!