Web Service Questions

01. What is the transport protocol you use to

call a Web service?
Ans : SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is the
preferred protocol.

02. True or False: A Web service can only be

written in .NET?
Ans : False

03. What does WSDL stand for?

Ans : Web Services Description Language.

04. Where on the Internet would you look for

Web services?
Ans : http://www.uddi.org/

05. True or False: To test a Web service you

must create a Windows application or Web
application to consume this service?
Ans : False, the web service comes with a test
page and it provides HTTP-GET method to test.

06. Can you give an example of when it would

be appropriate to use a web service as
opposed to non-serviced .NET component
Web service is one of main component in Service
Oriented Architecture. You could use web services
when your clients and servers are running on
different networks and also different platforms.
This provides a loosely coupled system. And also if
the client is behind the firewall it would be easy to
use web service since it runs on port 80 (by
default) instead of having some thing else in
Service Oriented Architecture applications. What is
the standard you use to wrap up a call to a Web
service
"SOAP."

07. What is the transport protocol you use to

call a Web service SOAP.
HTTP with SOAP

08. What does WSDL stand for? "WSDL stands

for Web Services Description Langauge. There is
WSDL.exe that creates a .wsdl Files which defines
how an XML Web service behaves and instructs
clients as to how to interact with the service.
eg: wsdl http://LocalHost/WebServiceName.asmx"

09. Where on the Internet would you look for

Web Services?
http://www.uddi.org/

10. What does WSDL stand for?

Web Services Description Language
11. True or False: To test a Web service you
must create a windows application or Web
application to consume this service?
False.

12. What are the various ways of accessing a

web service ?
1.Asynchronous Call
Application can make a call to the Webservice
and then continue to do watever it wants to
do.When the service is ready it will notify the
application.Application can use BEGIN and END
method to make asynchronous call to the
webmethod.We can use either a WaitHandle or a
Delegate object when making asynchronous call.
The WaitHandle class share resources between
several objects. It provides several methods which
will wait for the resources to become available
The easiest and most powerful way to to
implement an asynchronous call is using a
delegate object. A delegate object wraps up a
callback function. The idea is to pass a method in
the invocation of the web method. When the
webmethod has finished it will call this callback
function to process the result

2.Synchronous Call
Application has to wait until execution has
completed.
13. What are VSDISCO files? VSDISCO files are
DISCO files that support dynamic discovery of Web
services. If you place the following VSDISCO file in
a directory on your Web server, for example, it
returns references to all ASMX and DISCO files in
the host directory and any subdirectories not noted
in <EXCLUDE>elements:

<DYNAMICDISCOVERY
xmlns="urn:schemas-
dynamicdiscovery:disco.2000-03-17">
<EXCLUDE path="_vti_cnf" />
<EXCLUDE path="_vti_pvt" />
<EXCLUDE path="_vti_log" />
<EXCLUDE path="_vti_script" />
<EXCLUDE path="_vti_txt" />
</DYNAMICDISCOVERY>

14. How does dynamic discovery work?

ASP.NET maps the file name extension VSDISCO
to an HTTP handler that scans the host directory
and subdirectories for ASMX and DISCO files and
returns a dynamically generated DISCO document.
A client who requests a VSDISCO file gets back
what appears to be a static DISCO document.
Note that VSDISCO files are disabled in the release
version of ASP.NET. You can reenable them by
uncommenting the line in the
<HTTPHANDLERS>section of Machine.config that
maps *.vsdisco to
System.Web.Services.Discovery.DiscoveryRequest
Handler and granting the ASPNET user account
permission to read the IIS metabase. However,
Microsoft is actively discouraging the use of
VSDISCO files because they could represent a
threat to Web server security.

15. Is it possible to prevent a browser from

caching an ASPX page?
Just call SetNoStore on the HttpCachePolicy object
exposed through the Response object's Cache
property, as demonstrated here:

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>

<%
Response.Cache.SetNoStore ();
Response.Write
(DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString ());
%>
SetNoStore works by returning a Cache-Control:
private, no-store header in the HTTP response. In
this example, it prevents caching of a Web page
that shows the current time.

16. What does AspCompat="true" mean and

when should I use it?
AspCompat is an aid in migrating ASP pages to
ASPX pages. It defaults to false but should be set
to true in any ASPX file that creates apartment-
threaded COM objects--that is, COM objects
registered ThreadingModel=Apartment. That
includes all COM objects written with Visual Basic
6.0. AspCompat should also be set to true
(regardless of threading model) if the page
creates COM objects that access intrinsic ASP
objects such as Request and Response. The
following directive sets AspCompat to true:
<%@ Page AspCompat="true" %>
Setting AspCompat to true does two things. First,
it makes intrinsic ASP objects available to the
COM components by placing unmanaged wrappers
around the equivalent ASP.NET objects. Second, it
improves the performance of calls that the page
places to apartment- threaded COM objects by
ensuring that the page (actually, the thread that
processes the request for the page) and the COM
objects it creates share an apartment.
AspCompat="true" forces ASP.NET request threads
into single-threaded apartments (STAs). If those
threads create COM objects marked
ThreadingModel=Apartment, then the objects are
created in the same STAs as the threads that
created them. Without AspCompat="true," request
threads run in a multithreaded apartment (MTA)
and each call to an STA-based COM object incurs a
performance hit when it's marshaled across
apartment boundaries.
Do not set AspCompat to true if your page uses no
COM objects or if it uses COM objects that don't
access ASP intrinsic objects and that are registered
ThreadingModel=Free or ThreadingModel=Both.

17. Can two different programming languages

be mixed in a single ASMX file?
No.

18. What namespaces are imported by default

in ASMX files?
The following namespaces are imported by default.
Other namespaces must be imported manually.·
System,
System.Collections,System.ComponentModel,Syste
m.Data,
System.Diagnostics,System.Web,System.Web.Serv
ices
How do I provide information to the Web Service
when the information is required as a SOAP
Header?
The key here is the Web Service proxy you created
using wsdl.exe or through Visual Studio .NET's Add
Web Reference menu option. If you happen to
download a WSDL file for a Web Service that
requires a SOAP header, .NET will create a
SoapHeader class in the proxy source file. Using
the previous example:
public class Service1 :
System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProt
ocol
{
public AuthToken AuthTokenValue;

[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlRootAttribute(Names
pace="http://tempuri.org/",
IsNullable=false)]
public class AuthToken : SoapHeader
{ public string Token; }}

In this case, when you create an instance of the

proxy in your main application file, you'll also
create an instance of the AuthToken class and
assign the string:
Service1 objSvc = new Service1();
processingobjSvc.AuthTokenValue = new
AuthToken();
objSvc.AuthTokenValue.Token = <ACTUAL
token value>;
Web Servicestring strResult =
objSvc.MyBillableWebMethod();

19. What is WSDL?

WSDL is the Web Service Description Language,
and it is implemented as a specific XML
vocabulary. While it's very much more complex
than what can be described here, there are two
important aspects to WSDL with which you should
be aware. First, WSDL provides instructions to
consumers of Web Services to describe the layout
and contents of the SOAP packets the Web
Service intends to issue. It's an interface
description document, of sorts. And second, it isn't
intended that you read and interpret the WSDL.
Rather, WSDL should be processed by machine,
typically to generate proxy source code (.NET) or
create dynamic proxies on the fly (the SOAP
Toolkit or Web Service Behavior).

20. What is a Windows Service and how does

its lifecycle differ from a "standard" EXE?
Windows service is a application that runs in the
background. It is equivalent to a NT service.
The executable created is not a Windows
application, and hence you can't just click and run
it . it needs to be installed as a service, VB.Net has
a facility where we can add an installer to our
program and then use a utility to install the
service. Where as this is not the case with
standard exe

21. How can a win service developed in .NET

be installed or used in Win98?Windows service
cannot be installed on Win9x machines even
though the .NET framework runs on machine.

22. Can you debug a Windows Service?

How?
Yes we can debug a Windows Service.
Attach the WinDbg debugger to a service after the
service starts
This method is similar to the method that you can
use to attach a debugger to a process and then
debug a process.
Use the process ID of the process that hosts the
service that you want to debug
1 To determine the process ID (PID) of the process
that hosts the service that you want to debug, use
one of the following methods.
• Method 1: Use the Task Manager
a. Right-click the taskbar, and then click Task
Manager. The Windows Task Manager dialog box
appears.
b. Click the Processes tab of the Windows Task
Manager dialog box.
c. Under Image Name, click the image name of
the process that hosts the service that you want to
debug. Note the process ID of this process as
specified by the value of the corresponding PID
field.
• Method 2: Use the Task List Utility (tlist.exe)
a. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog
box appears.
b. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
c. At the command prompt, change the directory
path to reflect the location of the tlist.exe file on
your computer.

Note The tlist.exe file is typically located in the

following directory: C:\Program Files\Debugging
Tools for Windows
d. At the command prompt, type tlist to list the
image names and the process IDs of all processes
that are currently running on your computer.

Note Make a note of the process ID of the

process that hosts the service that you want to
debug.
2 At a command prompt, change the directory
path to reflect the location of the windbg.exe file
on your computer.

Note If a command prompt is not open, follow

steps a and b of Method 1. The windbg.exe file is
typically located in the following directory:
C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows.
3 At the command prompt, type windbg –p
ProcessID to attach the WinDbg debugger to the
process that hosts the service that you want to
debug.

Note ProcessID is a placeholder for the process ID

of the process that hosts the service that you want
to debug.

Use the image name of the process that hosts the

service that you want to debug

You can use this method only if there is exactly

one running instance of the process that hosts the
service that you want to run. To do this, follow
these steps:
1 Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog
box appears.
2 In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK to
open a command prompt.
3 At the command prompt, change the directory
path to reflect the location of the windbg.exe file
on your computer.

Note The windbg.exe file is typically located in the

following directory: C:\Program Files\Debugging
Tools for Windows.
4 At the command prompt, type windbg –pn
ImageName to attach the WinDbg debugger to the
process that hosts the service that you want to
debug.

NoteImageName is a placeholder for the image

name of the process that hosts the service that
you want to debug. The "-pn" command-line option
specifies that the ImageName command-line
argument is the image name of a process.
back to the top
Start the WinDbg debugger and attach to the
process that hosts the service that you want to
debug

1 Start Windows Explorer.

2 Locate the windbg.exe file on your computer.

Note The windbg.exe file is typically located in the

following directory: C:\Program Files\Debugging
Tools for Windows
3 Run the windbg.exe file to start the WinDbg
debugger.
4 On the File menu, click Attach to a Process to
display the Attach to Process dialog box.
5 Click to select the node that corresponds to the
process that hosts the service that you want to
debug, and then click OK.
6 In the dialog box that appears, click Yes to save
base workspace information. Notice that you can
now debug the disassembled code of your
service.
Configure a service to start with the WinDbg
debugger attached
You can use this method to debug services if you
want to troubleshoot service-startup-related
problems.
1 Configure the "Image File Execution" options. To
do this, use one of the following methods:
• Method 1: Use the Global Flags Editor
(gflags.exe)
a. Start Windows Explorer.
b. Locate the gflags.exe file on your computer.

Note The gflags.exe file is typically located in the

following directory: C:\Program Files\Debugging
Tools for Windows.
c. Run the gflags.exe file to start the Global Flags
Editor.
d. In the Image File Name text box, type the
image name of the process that hosts the service
that you want to debug. For example, if you want
to debug a service that is hosted by a process that
has MyService.exe as the image name, type
MyService.exe.
e. Under Destination, click to select the Image
File Options option.
 f. Under Image Debugger Options, click to select
the Debugger check box.
g. In the Debugger text box, type the full path of
the debugger that you want to use. For example, if
you want to use the WinDbg debugger to debug a
service, you can type a full path that is similar to
the following: C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools
for Windows\windbg.exe
h. Click Apply, and then click OK to quit the
Global Flags Editor.
• Method 2: Use Registry Editor
a. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog
box appears.
b. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click
OK to start Registry Editor.
c. Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly,
you may cause serious problems that may require
you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that
result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use
Registry Editor at your own risk.

In Registry Editor, locate, and then right-click

the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Wi
ndows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution
Options
d. Point to New, and then click Key. In the left
pane of Registry Editor, notice that New Key #1
(the name of a new registry subkey) is selected for
editing.
e. Type ImageName to replace New Key #1, and
then press ENTER.

Note ImageName is a placeholder for the image

name of the process that hosts the service that
you want to debug. For example, if you want to
debug a service that is hosted by a process that
has MyService.exe as the image name, type
MyService.exe.
f. Right-click the registry subkey that you created
in step e.
g. Point to New, and then click String Value. In
the right pane of Registry Editor, notice that New
Value #1, the name of a new registry entry, is
selected for editing.
h. Replace New Value #1 with Debugger, and
then press ENTER.
i. Right-click the Debugger registry entry that you
created in step h, and then click Modify. The Edit
String dialog box appears.
j. In the Value data text box, type DebuggerPath,
and then click OK.

Note DebuggerPath is a placeholder for the full

path of the debugger that you want to use. For
example, if you want to use the WinDbg debugger
to debug a service, you can type a full path that is
similar to the following: C:\Program
Files\Debugging Tools for Windows\windbg.exe
2 For the debugger window to appear on your
desktop, and to interact with the debugger, make
your service interactive. If you do not make your
service interactive, the debugger will start but you
cannot see it and you cannot issue commands. To
make your service interactive, use one of the
following methods:
• Method 1: Use the Services console
a. Click Start, and then point to Programs.
b. On the Programs menu, point to Administrative
Tools, and then click Services. The Services
console appears.
c. In the right pane of the Services console, right-
click ServiceName, and then click Properties.

Note ServiceName is a placeholder for the name

of the service that you want to debug.
d. On the Log On tab, click to select the Allow
service to interact with desktop check box under
Local System account, and then click OK.
• Method 2: Use Registry Editor
a. In Registry Editor, locate, and then click the
following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControl
Set\Services\ServiceName
Note Replace ServiceName with the name of the
service that you want to debug. For example, if
you want to debug a service named MyService,
locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControl
Set\Services\MyService
b. Under the Name field in the right pane of
Registry Editor, right-click Type, and then click
Modify. The Edit DWORD Value dialog box appears.
c. Change the text in the Value data text box to
the result of the binary OR operation with the
binary value of the current text and the binary
value, 0x00000100, as the two operands. The
binary value, 0x00000100, corresponds to the
SERVICE_INTERACTIVE_PROCESS constant that is
defined in the WinNT.h header file on your
computer. This constant specifies that a service is
interactive in nature.
3 When a service starts, the service communicates
to the Service Control Manager how long the
service must have to start (the time-out period for
the service). If the Service Control Manager does
not receive a "service started" notice from the
service within this time-out period, the Service
Control Manager terminates the process that hosts
the service. This time-out period is typically less
than 30 seconds. If you do not adjust this time-out
period, the Service Control Manager ends the
process and the attached debugger while you are
trying to debug. To adjust this time-out period,
follow these steps:
 a. In Registry Editor, locate, and then right-click
the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlS
et\Control
b. Point to New, and then click DWORD Value. In
the right pane of Registry Editor, notice that New
Value #1 (the name of a new registry entry) is
selected for editing.
c. Type ServicesPipeTimeout to replace New Value
#1, and then press ENTER.
d. Right-click the ServicesPipeTimeout registry
entry that you created in step c, and then click
Modify. The Edit DWORD Value dialog box
appears.
e. In the Value data text box, type TimeoutPeriod,
and then click OK

Note TimeoutPeriod is a placeholder for the value

of the time-out period (in milliseconds) that you
want to set for the service. For example, if you
want to set the time-out period to 24 hours
(86400000 milliseconds), type 86400000.
f. Restart the computer. You must restart the
computer for Service Control Manager to apply this
change.
4 Start your Windows service. To do this, follow
these steps:
a. Click Start, and then point to Programs.
b. On the Programs menu, point to Administrative
Tools, and then click Services. The Services
console appears.
c. In the right pane of the Services console, right-
click ServiceName, and then click Start.

Note ServiceName is a placeholder for the name

of the service that you want to debug.