Encoding/Decoding Web Service: Service Consumer
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This article, the second of two parts, configures a client which consumes the web service project that was created in part one. The consuming client can be another web application, or even a console application.
Introduction
This tutorial takes you step by step through creating a proxy client that can interrogate the web service, and retrieve results sent to you by the web service. The proxy client (the one that uses or consumes the web service), meaning you, will send a text string to be encoded (decoded) to the web service created in part one. The web service will then take your string and turn it into its encoded (decoded) form, and send it back to the proxy. The proxy will communicate to you the information received from the web service. This web service and consuming client application's interaction may be schematically shown as in this figure.
The detailed sequence of events are as described below:
1. The client executes a process in the code written for the proxy.
2. The proxy receives the call and packages a request to be sent to the web service, including the parameters needed by the code as specified by the consumer, if any.
3. The function call is then routed to the web service, usually at a different location, but it could be any place to which the client has some connectivity. In the figure it is shown as taking place across the Internet.
4. The web service uses the parameters it receives and executes the process defined by the web service.
5. The web service sends the result of the process to the proxy. The proxy parses the XML sent by the web service and presents the value to the consuming client.
Next: Generating a proxy >>
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