WebClient error: The underlying connection was closed: an unexpected error occurred on a receive

[matt]

hello,

i am using a .NET 1.1 winform to perform webrequests via the
System.Net.WebClient class (not a webservice, actually). It uploads
values via a POST command & a URL, then receives the html back. nothing
too complicated there.

except, i am frequently getting the dreaded error:

The underlying connection was closed: an unexpected error occurred
on a receive

....which after some googling, appears to be a .NET bug w/ regards to
open connections actually being closed. this error is typically run
into while working w/ ASP.NET webservers and/or webservices.

i have found many articles instructing one to disable keep-alives, and
using HTTP version 1.0. doing so in this method from the "reference.cs"
seems common:

protected override WebRequest GetWebRequest(Uri uri)
{
HttpWebRequest webRequest = (HttpWebRequest)
base.GetWebRequest(uri);

webRequest.KeepAlive = false;
webRequest.ProtocolVersion=HttpVersion.Version10;
return webRequest;
}

....however, i dont know what this "reference.cs" file is.

can anyone provide me w/ the following clues:

- how can i have my WebClient object use a custom WebRequest like the
above?
- can i somehow set the keepalive & http version via the
WebClient.Headers collection?
- is this bug perhaps fixed in .NET 2.0 ?

any help would be appreciated!

thanks,
matt

[geraldbauer]

The reference.cs file is created via Visual Studios when you add a web
reference to a project. This file is automatically generated for you
that handles the communication between your reference to a webservice
method which is based upon the WSDL (the contract of what the
webservice provides to the world). Hope this helps explain the
reference.cs file for you.