Introduction

This is a continuation of my series of web service related articles exploring interoperability, albeit in simple cases. Oracle XE's ApplicationBuilder is based on Oracle's most used Application Express, which was formerly called HTML Db.

Creating the Web Service in Visual Studio 2005

It is very easy to create a web service using Visual Studio, especially for this simple, basic example. In fact the default web service, HelloWorld, is used.

Create a web site from File -->New Website. This opens up the New Web Site window where you choose an ASP.NET Web Service. The URL should be pointing to the localhost. Change the default site name from WebSite to something suitable. In this case the site name is TestingService as shown in the next picture.

The program adds a Service1.asmx file which has been changed to HelloOra.asmx. The Service Class file appears as follows:

Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.Services
Imports System.Web.Services.Protocols

<WebService(Namespace:="http://tempuri.org/")> _
<WebServiceBinding(ConformsTo:=WsiProfiles.BasicProfile1_1)> _
<Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.DesignerGenerated()> _
Public Class Service
     Inherits System.Web.Services.WebService

    <WebMethod()> _
    Public Function HelloWorld() As String
        Return "Web Service Created to test an Oracle Client"""
    End Function

End Class

The Solution Explorer will be as shown in the next picture. The asmx file is the web service file.

The Return value has been changed to "Web Service Created to test an oracle client" above. You may build this, and by browsing the HelloOra.asmx file it can be seen that the service is functional as seen in the next picture.

Displaying the Soap-Endpoint

The service may be invoked by clicking the hyperlink, HelloWorld and the success of the HTTP-post is seen in the next display when you invoke the service.

The WSDL Web Reference

In the earlier screen if you were to click on the hyperlink for Service Description you would see the WSDL file, which contains the complete description of the service. A node compressed view of the displayed wsdl file is shown in the next picture.

The URL of the WSDL is going to be used while configuring the Oracle client application. This url is:

 http://localhost/TestingService/HelloOra.asmx?WSDL