Discovering XML Web Services

  • Article

Given the URL to a discovery document residing on a Web server, a developer of a client application can learn that an XML Web service exists, what its capabilities are, and how to properly interact with it. This process is known as XML Web service discovery.

Through the process of XML Web service discovery, a set of files is downloaded to the local computer containing details about the existence of XML Web services. The files can be service descriptions, XSD schemas, or discovery documents. Using the Wsdl.exe tool, you can create a proxy class to the XML Web service described by a service description or XSD schema. For details about creating a proxy class, see Creating an XML Web Service Proxy. A downloaded discovery document contains information about the existence of other XML Web services that might reside on a different Web server. For details about the contents of a discovery document, see Enabling Discovery for an XML Web Service.

Using the .NET Framework SDK, you can use the Web Services Discovery Tool (Disco.exe) to enact XML Web service discovery on a URL.

To enact the discovery process

  • From a command prompt type the following:

    Disco /out:location /username:user /password:mypwd /domain:mydomainhttps://www.contoso.com/my.disco
    Parameter Value
    https://www.contoso.com/my.disco The URL to enact the discovery process on.
    /out:location The location to create the file containing the discovery results. The default value is the current directory. (Optional)
    /username:user The user name to use when connecting to a Web server that requires authentication. (Optional)
    /password:mypwd The password to use when connecting to a Web server that requires authentication. (Optional)
    /domain:mydomain The domain to use when connecting to a Web server that requires authentication. (Optional)

See Also

Building XML Web Service Clients | Creating an XML Web Service Proxy | Creating Clients for XML Web Services | Exploring Existing XML Web Services Created Using ASP.NET | Communicating with XML Web Services Asynchronously | Accessing XML Web Services from a Browser