Contract-First WCF for Salesforce Outbound Messaging - c#

I am looking at implementing listener application for Salesforce Outbound Messaging.
The walk through implements it using the deprecated ASMX web service. The code is generated using wsdl.exe with /serverInterface switch.
Here is the wsdl of Salesforce Outbound Messaging.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<definitions targetNamespace="http://soap.sforce.com/2005/09/outbound"
xmlns="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/"
xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/"
xmlns:tns="http://soap.sforce.com/2005/09/outbound"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:ent="urn:enterprise.soap.sforce.com"
xmlns:ens="urn:sobject.enterprise.soap.sforce.com">
<types>
<schema elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" targetNamespace="urn:enterprise.soap.sforce.com">
<!-- Our simple ID Type -->
<simpleType name="ID">
<restriction base="xsd:string">
<length value="18"/>
<pattern value='[a-zA-Z0-9]{18}'/>
</restriction>
</simpleType>
</schema>
<schema elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" targetNamespace="urn:sobject.enterprise.soap.sforce.com">
<import namespace="urn:enterprise.soap.sforce.com" />
<!-- Base sObject (abstract) -->
<complexType name="sObject">
<sequence>
<element name="fieldsToNull" type="xsd:string" nillable="true" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
<element name="Id" type="ent:ID" nillable="true" />
</sequence>
</complexType>
<complexType name="AggregateResult">
<complexContent>
<extension base="ens:sObject">
<sequence>
<any namespace="##targetNamespace" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" processContents="lax"/>
</sequence>
</extension>
</complexContent>
</complexType>
<complexType name="Contact">
<complexContent>
<extension base="ens:sObject">
<sequence>
<element name="Email" nillable="true" minOccurs="0" type="xsd:string"/>
<element name="FirstName" nillable="true" minOccurs="0" type="xsd:string"/>
<element name="LastName" nillable="true" minOccurs="0" type="xsd:string"/>
</sequence>
</extension>
</complexContent>
</complexType>
</schema>
<schema elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" targetNamespace="http://soap.sforce.com/2005/09/outbound">
<import namespace="urn:enterprise.soap.sforce.com" />
<import namespace="urn:sobject.enterprise.soap.sforce.com" />
<element name="notifications">
<complexType>
<sequence>
<element name="OrganizationId" type="ent:ID" />
<element name="ActionId" type="ent:ID" />
<element name="SessionId" type="xsd:string" nillable="true" />
<element name="EnterpriseUrl" type="xsd:string" />
<element name="PartnerUrl" type="xsd:string" />
<element name="Notification" maxOccurs="100" type="tns:ContactNotification" />
</sequence>
</complexType>
</element>
<complexType name="ContactNotification">
<sequence>
<element name="Id" type="ent:ID" />
<element name="sObject" type="ens:Contact" />
</sequence>
</complexType>
<element name="notificationsResponse">
<complexType>
<sequence>
<element name="Ack" type="xsd:boolean" />
</sequence>
</complexType>
</element>
</schema>
</types>
<!-- Method Messages -->
<message name="notificationsRequest">
<part element="tns:notifications" name="request"/>
</message>
<message name="notificationsResponse">
<part element="tns:notificationsResponse" name="response"/>
</message>
<!-- PortType -->
<portType name="NotificationPort">
<operation name="notifications">
<documentation>Process a number of notifications.</documentation>
<input message="tns:notificationsRequest"/>
<output message="tns:notificationsResponse"/>
</operation>
</portType>
<!-- Binding
You need to write a service that implements this binding to receive the notifications
-->
<binding name="NotificationBinding" type="tns:NotificationPort">
<soap:binding style="document" transport="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/http"/>
<operation name="notifications">
<soap:operation soapAction=""/>
<input>
<soap:body use="literal"/>
</input>
<output>
<soap:body use="literal"/>
</output>
</operation>
</binding>
<!-- Service Endpoint -->
<service name="NotificationService">
<documentation>Notification Service Implementation</documentation>
<port binding="tns:NotificationBinding" name="Notification">
<soap:address location="http://www.myserver.com/salesforceoutboundprototype/notificationport.svc"/>
</port>
</service>
</definitions>
tldr is I need to implement NotificationBinding so that Salesforce can call my webservice when an event occurs on their system.
I since have realised svcutil does not natively support Contract-First development.
As per Contract-First SOA with WCF I used WSCF.Blue to generate server-side stubs from Salesforce wsdl. Whilst the code compiles wsdl generated by my service does not have the required notifications operation.
I wonder what I am going wrong?
So I managed to do quick implementation of Salesforce wsdl using wsdl.exe and /serverInterface and it seems the wsdl generated by asmx based application is quite different from wcf based application.
This is the interface created by wsdl.exe with /serverInterface
/// <remarks/>
[System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("wsdl", "4.0.30319.1")]
[System.Web.Services.WebServiceBindingAttribute(Name="NotificationBinding", Namespace="http://soap.sforce.com/2005/09/outbound")]
[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlIncludeAttribute(typeof(sObject))]
public interface INotificationBinding {
/// <remarks/>
[System.Web.Services.WebMethodAttribute()]
[System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapDocumentMethodAttribute("", Use=System.Web.Services.Description.SoapBindingUse.Literal, ParameterStyle=System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapParameterStyle.Bare)]
[return: System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("notificationsResponse", Namespace="http://soap.sforce.com/2005/09/outbound")]
notificationsResponse notifications([System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute("notifications", Namespace="http://soap.sforce.com/2005/09/outbound")] notifications notifications1);
}
This is the interface created by WSCF.Blue
[System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("System.ServiceModel", "4.0.0.0")]
[System.ServiceModel.ServiceContractAttribute(Namespace="http://soap.sforce.com/2005/09/outbound", ConfigurationName="INotificationPort")]
public interface INotificationPort
{
// CODEGEN: Generating message contract since the operation notifications is neither RPC nor document wrapped.
[System.ServiceModel.OperationContractAttribute(Action="", ReplyAction="*")]
[System.ServiceModel.XmlSerializerFormatAttribute(SupportFaults=true)]
[System.ServiceModel.ServiceKnownTypeAttribute(typeof(sObject))]
notificationsResponse1 notifications(notificationsRequest request);
}
They seem to be fairly similar so I don't know why wsdl generated by these application would be so different? Is it worthwhile adding wsdls (don't want to make the question any longer then it already is)?

You may not like what I suggest but I believe it will actually be the best option for you. Use ASMX. I have three OM listeners and they all work just fine under 4.0
I do not know who spreads these misfinfromations about some .NET2.0 techs but a lot of them are most certainly not obsoleted just because dev community got stricken with novelty fetish; ASMX is one of them (so is Linq2SQL, etc). WCF is simply put not yet complete, it is not fully WS compliant and that casues a lot of grief with salesforce integration (most painful being that WCF does not support soap headers where salesforce keeps session info).
For more info why asmx is NOT obsolete, see here: Does .net 4.0 still support asmx

Use svcutil to generate a client proxy and simply delete the client proxy implementation, and keep the service/data contracts. The service contract is symmetrical from a client/server point of view. I have worked on substantial contract-first projects and found this to be perfectly adequate.
Just make sure you have all of the external WSDLs available to for svcutil to resolve. I see several import statements in your WSDL text above.
BTW, WSCF.Blue is not quite up to it unfortunately as it's not been updated for a few months and is unlikely to be so in the future. Sadly, the primary developer died in a car crash last year (yes, really.)

I went through the same pain of trying to get my OBM listener working with WCF. I had originally only set up an OperationContract for the notifications method. After deploying I soon realised a Data Contract would need to be set up which I did but due to time constraints and not being entirely sure if that would be all I needed to do I simply switched to an asmx web service which worked.

I figured out an easy way to generate WCF interfaces from the Salesforce WSDL using the built in Visual Studio tools. I downloaded the WSDL from Salesforce and saved it to my desktop. In Visual Studio, go to the add service reference menu in one of your projects(doesn't matter where, you're going to delete this). For the Url, type in the path to the WSDL you downloaded locally (i.e. C:\Users\yourusername\Desktop\notification.wsdl)
This should bring load in the data for the service. Click okay to create the reference and now in the services references folder, double click on the reference you just created. This should show you the object browser with the namespace of the service reference you just created being highlighted. Double click on any of the classes inside this namespace and it will open up the related reference.cs that was generated by visual studio.
Copy all of the content inside the namespace declaration to the file of your choice with whatever namespace you decide. You can rename that interface as well if you plan to handle more than one outbound message (default should be NotificationPort). The interface will have references to the namespace you built it with but you can remove all of the namespacing in the file because all of the classes it is referring to are in the same file.
Create a new WCF service class. Delete the interface that is automatically created with the svc file and change the interface name to the one that you just copied to the new file.
By default, Visual Studio created some an async method which was throwing errors when I tried to implement it. I just deleted it from the interface and used the standard notification method.
I did this in VS2013 but it should be the same for 2010 and 2012 as well. Make sure you are using 'Add Service Reference' and not 'Add Web Reference'. Don't forget to delete the generated reference as you will not be using it.

WSCF provides a contract-first tool with VS integration.

Related

Error when try to create Service Reference in VS2013 with fault elements from third party WSDL

I am creating a WCF Client in VS 2013 using a supplied third party WSDL for a web service - most likely running on Java.
Running svcutil on the raw WSDL gives me an error similar to this:
Error: Cannot import wsdl:binding
Detail: There was an error importing a wsdl:portType that the wsdl:binding is dependent on.
XPath to wsdl:portType:
//wsdl:definitions[#targetNamespace='<ns>']/wsdl:portType[#name='xxxPort']
XPath to Error Source:
//wsdl:definitions[#targetNamespace='<ns>']/wsdl:binding[#name='xxxPortSoap11']
Error: Cannot import wsdl:port
Detail: There was an error importing a wsdl:binding that the wsdl:port is dependent on.
XPath to wsdl:binding:
//wsdl:definitions[#targetNamespace='<ns>']/wsdl:binding[#name='xxxPortSoap11']
XPath to Error Source:
//wsdl:definitions[#targetNamespace='<ns>']/wsdl:service[#name='xxxPortService']/wsdl:port[#name='xxxPortSoap11']
Generating files...
Warning: No code was generated. ...
In order to get the Service Reference working (or svcutil running without errors) I have to comment out the fault definitions in the port and bindings. I can live with that (as I have made a MessageInspector to pull out errors from the various detail elements), but want to get it working properly.
Simplifying the WSDL to only show the elements that give me problems gives:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<wsdl:definitions
xmlns:tns="http://www.example.com/data/common/"
xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/"
xmlns:sch0="http://www.example.com/data/common/"
targetNamespace="http://www.example.com/data/common/"
xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/">
<wsdl:types>
<xsd:schema xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:tns1="http://www.example.com/data/common/"
attributeFormDefault="unqualified" elementFormDefault="qualified"
targetNamespace="www.example.com/data/common/"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xsd:complexType xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" name="BusinessErrorType">
<xsd:sequence xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xsd:element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
name="Error" maxOccurs="unbounded" type="string" />
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
<xsd:element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
name="BusinessErrorFault" type="tns1:BusinessErrorType" />
</xsd:schema>
</wsdl:types>
<wsdl:message name="BusinessErrorFault">
<wsdl:part name="BusinessErrorFault" element="sch0:BusinessErrorFault" />
</wsdl:message>
<wsdl:portType name="ViewMessagesPort">
<wsdl:operation name="BusinessError">
<wsdl:fault name="BusinessErrorFault" message="sch0:BusinessErrorFault" />
</wsdl:operation>
</wsdl:portType>
<wsdl:binding name="ViewMessagesPortSoap11" type="sch0:ViewMessagesPort">
<soap:binding transport="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/http" />
<wsdl:operation name="BusinessError">
<soap:operation soapAction="" />
<wsdl:fault name="BusinessErrorFault">
<soap:fault use="literal" name="BusinessErrorFault" />
</wsdl:fault>
</wsdl:operation>
</wsdl:binding>
<wsdl:service name="ViewMessagesPortService">
<wsdl:port name="ViewMessagesPortSoap11" binding="sch0:ViewMessagesPortSoap11">
<soap:address location="https://www.example.com/ws/" />
</wsdl:port>
</wsdl:service>
</wsdl:definitions>
I have looked at many SO questions and other places on the net including Scott Hanselman's breaking the rules with no joy.
Hopefully it is something blindingly obvious ... I gratefully await any answers from across the pond as I wend my way home in the UK.
UPDATE
Passing the above WSDL through https://www.wsdl-analyzer.com/ gives an error on the binding:
Style: Unknown [Warn!]
Could not detect the 'use' for the operations of binding ViewMessagesPortSoap11
I'm still none the wiser.
The WSDL you published above has an issue that there is no schema with targetNamespace of "http://www.example.com/data/common/" which is what expected by the sch0:BusinessErrorFault element. I assume this may be because you did not provide the full WSDL so I changed the targetNamespace of the schema to it. The next error if this this operation:
<wsdl:operation name="BusinessError">
<wsdl:fault name="BusinessErrorFault" message="sch0:BusinessErrorFault" />
</wsdl:operation>
has no input or output but just fault, which does not make since.
I guess this might also be because you simplified the WSDL so please publish the full one if you get more errors.

One WCF service – two clients; One client does not work

I have one WCF service and two console app clients.
Service: The service code is created from a wsdl contact using WCSF Blue tool.
Client 1: This client is using wsdl that is obtained by browsing the svc file. This browsed wsdl file is slightly different from the contract wsdl file.
Client 2: This client is created using the original wsdl contract.
Cleint1 is working fine. Client 2 is not working. What all could be potential issues?
App.Config file of both the clients look similar – only the name changes. I think, the problem will be in the client C# code generated – most probably in the Action – ReplyAction. What need to be corrected here?
One noticeable difference is in Action and ReplyAction
Client 1:
Action="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:calculation:v1/ICalculationService/GetMultiplied", ReplyAction="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:calculation:v1/ICalculationService/GetMultipliedRe" +
"sponse"
Client 2:
Action="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:calculation:v1:getMultipliedIn", ReplyAction="*"
Trace Message
The message with Action 'urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:calculation:v1:getMultipliedIn' cannot be processed at the receiver, due to a ContractFilter mismatch at the EndpointDispatcher. This may be because of either a contract mismatch (mismatched Actions between sender and receiver) or a binding/security mismatch between the sender and the receiver. Check that sender and receiver have the same contract and the same binding (including security requirements, e.g. Message, Transport, None).
EDIT
This can be corrected by changing the Action and ReplyAction as below (Copied it from Service).
[System.ServiceModel.OperationContractAttribute(Action = "urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:calculation:v1/ICalculationService/getMultiplied", ReplyAction = "urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:calculation:v1/ICalculationService/getMultipliedRe" +
"sponse")]
Note: It is important to ensure that the casing in the service is correct (i.e, getMultiplied not GetMultiplied)
Copying from the service is not a good option, though it works. What would be the correct Action and ReplyAction?
Also, Can you please point out how to modify the wsdl so that the ReplyAction will be correct in the generated client proxy? That is the essential part to mark it as answered.
WCF: Actions, Asterisk and Metadata
WsdlExporter, which is used for metadata publishing, ignores operations with asterisk actions (both Action and ReplyAction).
From MSDN -ReplyAction Property
Specifying an asterisk in the service instructs WCF not to add a reply action to the message, which is useful if you are programming against messages directly.
REFERENCES:
WCF metadata missing operations
RestaurantData.xsd
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<xs:schema id="RestaurantData" targetNamespace="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:data:v1"
elementFormDefault="qualified" xmlns="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:data:v1"
xmlns:mstns="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:data:v1" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xs:complexType name="multipliedResult">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="resultNumber" type="xs:int" />
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:schema>
Original Contract wsdl
<definitions xmlns:import0="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:messages:v1" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:import1="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:data:v1" xmlns:tns="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:calculation:v1" xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/" xmlns:soap12="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap12/" name="CalculationService" targetNamespace="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:calculation:v1" xmlns="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/">
<wsdl:documentation xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" />
<types>
<xsd:schema>
<xsd:import schemaLocation="C:\toolbox\LijosServiceApp\NewService\RestaurantMessages.xsd" namespace="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:messages:v1" />
<xsd:import schemaLocation="C:\toolbox\LijosServiceApp\NewService\RestaurantData.xsd" namespace="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:data:v1" />
</xsd:schema>
</types>
<message name="getMultipliedIn">
<wsdl:documentation xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" />
<part name="parameters" element="import0:getMultiplied" />
</message>
<message name="getMultipliedOut">
<wsdl:documentation xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" />
<part name="parameters" element="import0:getMultipliedResponse" />
</message>
<portType name="CalculationServiceInterface">
<wsdl:documentation xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" />
<operation name="getMultiplied">
<wsdl:documentation xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" />
<input message="tns:getMultipliedIn" />
<output message="tns:getMultipliedOut" />
</operation>
</portType>
<binding name="BasicHttpBinding_CalculationServiceInterface" type="tns:CalculationServiceInterface">
<soap:binding transport="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/http" />
<operation name="getMultiplied">
<soap:operation soapAction="urn:lijo:demos:multiplyservice:calculation:v1:getMultipliedIn" style="document" />
<input>
<soap:body use="literal" />
</input>
<output>
<soap:body use="literal" />
</output>
</operation>
</binding>
<service name="CalculationServicePort">
<port name="CalculationServicePort" binding="tns:BasicHttpBinding_CalculationServiceInterface">
<soap:address location="http://localhost/CalculationService" />
</port>
</service>
</definitions>
I figured it out. For the benefit of others I will explain it here.
Before that please refer answer to the 400 Bad Request Exception: Simple SOAP WCF service with small data for some debugging ideas.
This due to Format SOAP Action option in WCSF Blue tool.
I have used "Format Soap Actions" while generating the code using WCSF Blue. But while client, I did not use the tool. That mismatch is the key issue.
Format Soap Actions force the SOAP actions (Action and ReplyAction) applied to each operation contract follow the standard WCF format:
<namespace>/<service>/<operation>[Response]
If I have no control over the client, I should not use Format SOAP Action option in WCSF Blue Tool.
Please refer Service works from wcfTestClient but fails in Console Application for a working example.
[Still I have a question - what if I have no control over the client still need to use ReplyAction? What will be the URI in xml format in such scenario that is to be used in the client and service ? ]
General Debugging Ideas:
Ensure that the service is good by using wcfTestClient (type wcfTestClient in VS command prompt to launch)
Use Tracing as mentioned in How to turn on WCF tracing?
Verify that the configuration values are in web.config/app.config and not in output.config (in case of auto generation using tools)
Verify that you are referring proper wsdl (is it local file or url from running service?)
Verify that the wsdl can be viewed by browsing the svc file. Metadata is enabled
Check whether it is relative path or absolute path in the "address" in the service
You are right that there is an issue in ReplyAction. When ReplyAction is set to "*" makes WCF to ignore that operation. Correct the ReplyAction to your operation contract will work.
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wcf/thread/41f5fe72-3ab3-4741-867e-a93119fe62aa

.NET SOAP Serializing Unbounded Sequence

We have a WSDL which contains the following type definition:
...
<xsd:complexType name="OrderItem">
<xsd:all>
<xsd:element name="source" type="xsd:string" />
</xsd:all>
</xsd:complexType>
<xsd:complexType name="OrderItems">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="item" type="tns:OrderItem" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
</xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>
...
When adding the service as a Service Reference in VS 2010, the OrderItems class contains an item property which is of type OrderItem[]. The SOAP request is then generated as follows:
...
<items>
<OrderItem>
<item>foo</item>
<item>bar</item>
</OrderItem>
</items>
...
Using the XmlArray and XmlArrayItem attributes we can control the names of the <OrderItem> and <item> elements respectively, but can't get to the desired structure:
...
<items>
<item>foo</item>
<item>bar</item>
</items>
...
I'm aware that this problem could be avoided if the WSDL specified something like <xsd:restriction base="soap-enc:Array"> rather than an unbounded sequence, but given the above is the only way forward to use some custom serialization?
EDIT: Example WSDL at https://gist.github.com/1422704
It seems that .NET WCF services do not play nice with our WSDL (which was manually created with a focus on the XSD and not on SOAP).
The easiest way to get the SOAP API to work with .NET was to alter the WSDL to use the SOAP array type, so <items> becomes a soap-enc:Array with soap-enc:arrayType="tns:OrderItem[]".
The resulting XML generated by the Service Reference's auto-generated code is then correct.

XML complexType with element that ends up as "XmlElement"

In my XSD, I have something similar to this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<schema xmlns:jump="testThingy" elementFormDefault="qualified" targetNamespace="testThingy" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<element name="command" type="jump:commandType" />
<complexType name="loginType">
<sequence>
<element name="userName" />
</sequence>
</complexType>
<complexType name="commandType">
<sequence>
<choice>
<element name="login" type="jump:loginType" />
<element name="logout" />
</choice>
<!-- There are other elements here but they are IRRELEVANT to the question -->
</sequence>
</complexType>
</schema>
So, using an XSD to C# tool (xsd.exe or Xsd2Code), this generates 2 classes (commandType and loginType). But, if I wanted dto submit a logout command, the XML needs to look like this:
<command>
<logout />
</command>
But, I haven't got - whatever the equivalent of a - logoutType. In the generated class, if I wanted to use logout, then commandType is expecting an "XmlElement".
Assuming the XSD to C# tools can't generate this class for me, how do you write a class that basically comes down to just serializing to and is of type XmlElement so it fits with the commandType?
(note: I have no control over the XSD's, otherwise I would have changed it to include a new complexType)
Based on the schema that has now been posted, it's clear why you have an XmlElement for logout. What do you think the type of the logout element is? It's xs:anyType. It could be anything at all. The only .NET type that matches that is XmlElement, unless you prefer object.
What did you want instead of XmlElement?

Nested complex-type elements never get populated when calling AXIS-based web service from .NET

I've been trying for a couple of days now to get a .NET client working fully with a Web Server provided by my Coldfusion-based web app. I'm not a .NET developer, per se, but I happen to have a copy of VS 2003, which seems like it should do the trick.
I can use a simple multiplier() method in my web service that takes two numbers and returns a number, so simple types are working fine. It's the complex types that are killing me. I'm basically trying to return an associative array from a method called get_struct(). I get an object of type Map back, but the property (called item), which is supposed to be an array with two elements (of type mapItem) always has an "undefined value".
Here's the WSDL that is generated by ColdFusion:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<wsdl:definitions targetNamespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" xmlns:apachesoap="http://xml.apache.org/xml-soap" xmlns:impl="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" xmlns:intf="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" xmlns:soapenc="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" xmlns:tns1="http://rpc.xml.coldfusion" xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" xmlns:wsdlsoap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<!--WSDL created by Macromedia ColdFusion MX version 7,0,2,142559-->
<wsdl:types>
<schema targetNamespace="http://rpc.xml.coldfusion" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<import namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api"/>
<import namespace="http://xml.apache.org/xml-soap"/>
<import namespace="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/"/>
<complexType name="CFCInvocationException">
<sequence/>
</complexType>
<complexType name="QueryBean">
<sequence>
<element name="columnList" nillable="true" type="impl:ArrayOf_xsd_string"/>
<element name="data" nillable="true" type="impl:ArrayOfArrayOf_xsd_anyType"/>
</sequence>
</complexType>
</schema>
<schema targetNamespace="http://xml.apache.org/xml-soap" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<import namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api"/>
<import namespace="http://rpc.xml.coldfusion"/>
<import namespace="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/"/>
<complexType name="mapItem">
<sequence>
<element name="key" nillable="true" type="xsd:anyType"/>
<element name="value" nillable="true" type="xsd:anyType"/>
</sequence>
</complexType>
<complexType name="Map">
<sequence>
<element maxOccurs="unbounded" minOccurs="0" name="item" type="apachesoap:mapItem"/>
</sequence>
</complexType>
</schema>
<schema targetNamespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<import namespace="http://rpc.xml.coldfusion"/>
<import namespace="http://xml.apache.org/xml-soap"/>
<import namespace="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/"/>
<complexType name="ArrayOf_xsd_string">
<complexContent>
<restriction base="soapenc:Array">
<attribute ref="soapenc:arrayType" wsdl:arrayType="xsd:string[]"/>
</restriction>
</complexContent>
</complexType>
<complexType name="ArrayOfArrayOf_xsd_anyType">
<complexContent>
<restriction base="soapenc:Array">
<attribute ref="soapenc:arrayType" wsdl:arrayType="xsd:anyType[][]"/>
</restriction>
</complexContent>
</complexType>
</schema>
</wsdl:types>
<wsdl:message name="CFCInvocationException">
<wsdl:part name="fault" type="tns1:CFCInvocationException"/>
</wsdl:message>
<wsdl:message name="multiplierResponse">
<wsdl:part name="multiplierReturn" type="xsd:double"/>
</wsdl:message>
<wsdl:message name="get_structResponse">
<wsdl:part name="get_structReturn" type="apachesoap:Map"/>
</wsdl:message>
<wsdl:message name="struct_keycountResponse">
<wsdl:part name="struct_keycountReturn" type="xsd:double"/>
</wsdl:message>
<wsdl:message name="get_structRequest">
</wsdl:message>
<wsdl:message name="multiplierRequest">
<wsdl:part name="factor1" type="xsd:double"/>
<wsdl:part name="factor2" type="xsd:double"/> </wsdl:message>
<wsdl:message name="struct_keycountRequest">
<wsdl:part name="theStruct" type="apachesoap:Map"/>
</wsdl:message>
<wsdl:portType name="remote_io_test">
<wsdl:operation name="multiplier" parameterOrder="factor1 factor2">
<wsdl:input message="impl:multiplierRequest" name="multiplierRequest"/>
<wsdl:output message="impl:multiplierResponse" name="multiplierResponse"/>
<wsdl:fault message="impl:CFCInvocationException" name="CFCInvocationException"/>
</wsdl:operation>
<wsdl:operation name="get_struct">
<wsdl:input message="impl:get_structRequest" name="get_structRequest"/>
<wsdl:output message="impl:get_structResponse" name="get_structResponse"/>
<wsdl:fault message="impl:CFCInvocationException" name="CFCInvocationException"/>
</wsdl:operation>
<wsdl:operation name="struct_keycount" parameterOrder="theStruct">
<wsdl:input message="impl:struct_keycountRequest" name="struct_keycountRequest"/>
<wsdl:output message="impl:struct_keycountResponse" name="struct_keycountResponse"/>
<wsdl:fault message="impl:CFCInvocationException" name="CFCInvocationException"/>
</wsdl:operation>
</wsdl:portType>
<wsdl:binding name="remote_io_test.cfcSoapBinding" type="impl:remote_io_test">
<wsdlsoap:binding style="rpc" transport="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/http"/>
<wsdl:operation name="multiplier">
<wsdlsoap:operation soapAction=""/>
<wsdl:input name="multiplierRequest">
<wsdlsoap:body encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" use="encoded"/>
</wsdl:input>
<wsdl:output name="multiplierResponse">
<wsdlsoap:body encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" use="encoded"/>
</wsdl:output>
<wsdl:fault name="CFCInvocationException">
<wsdlsoap:fault encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" name="CFCInvocationException" namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" use="encoded"/>
</wsdl:fault>
</wsdl:operation>
<wsdl:operation name="get_struct">
<wsdlsoap:operation soapAction=""/>
<wsdl:input name="get_structRequest">
<wsdlsoap:body encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" use="encoded"/>
</wsdl:input>
<wsdl:output name="get_structResponse">
<wsdlsoap:body encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" use="encoded"/>
</wsdl:output>
<wsdl:fault name="CFCInvocationException">
<wsdlsoap:fault encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" name="CFCInvocationException" namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" use="encoded"/>
</wsdl:fault>
</wsdl:operation>
<wsdl:operation name="struct_keycount">
<wsdlsoap:operation soapAction=""/>
<wsdl:input name="struct_keycountRequest">
<wsdlsoap:body encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" use="encoded"/>
</wsdl:input>
<wsdl:output name="struct_keycountResponse">
<wsdlsoap:body encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" use="encoded"/>
</wsdl:output>
<wsdl:fault name="CFCInvocationException">
<wsdlsoap:fault encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" name="CFCInvocationException" namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" use="encoded"/>
</wsdl:fault>
</wsdl:operation>
</wsdl:binding>
<wsdl:service name="remote_io_testService">
<wsdl:documentation xmlns:wsdl="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/">
This is a collection of test methods to allow remote developers
to evaluate datatype support, etc in their programming environment.
The WSDL endpoint for this web service is [YOUR PEERFOCUS SITE]/remote_api/pfapi/v/trunk/remote_io_test.cfc?wsdl </wsdl:documentation>
<wsdl:port binding="impl:remote_io_test.cfcSoapBinding" name="remote_io_test.cfc">
<wsdlsoap:address location="http://leon.cupahr.tafkan.localhost/remote_api/pfapi/v/trunk/remote_io_test.cfc"/>
</wsdl:port>
</wsdl:service>
</wsdl:definitions>
and here's the web service stub generated when I add a web reference in VS:
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// <autogenerated>
// This code was generated by a tool.
// Runtime Version: 1.1.4322.2443
//
// Changes to this file may cause incorrect behavior and will be lost if
// the code is regenerated.
// </autogenerated>
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//
// This source code was auto-generated by Microsoft.VSDesigner, Version 1.1.4322.2443.
//
namespace pfapi_test.remote_io_test {
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using System;
using System.Web.Services.Protocols;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Web.Services;
/// <remarks/>
[System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThroughAttribute()]
[System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("code")]
[System.Web.Services.WebServiceBindingAttribute(Name="remote_io_test.cfcSoapBinding", Namespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api")]
[System.Xml.Serialization.SoapIncludeAttribute(typeof(QueryBean))]
[System.Xml.Serialization.SoapIncludeAttribute(typeof(CFCInvocationException))]
public class remote_io_testService : System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol {
/// <remarks/>
public remote_io_testService() {
this.Url = "http://leon.cupahr.tafkan.nooch/remote_api/pfapi/v/trunk/remote_io_test.cfc";
}
/// <remarks/>
[System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapRpcMethodAttribute("", RequestNamespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api", ResponseNamespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api")]
[return: System.Xml.Serialization.SoapElementAttribute("multiplierReturn")]
public System.Double multiplier(System.Double factor1, System.Double factor2) {
object[] results = this.Invoke("multiplier", new object[] {
factor1,
factor2});
return ((System.Double)(results[0]));
}
/// <remarks/>
public System.IAsyncResult Beginmultiplier(System.Double factor1, System.Double factor2, System.AsyncCallback callback, object asyncState) {
return this.BeginInvoke("multiplier", new object[] {
factor1,
factor2}, callback, asyncState);
}
/// <remarks/>
public System.Double Endmultiplier(System.IAsyncResult asyncResult) {
object[] results = this.EndInvoke(asyncResult);
return ((System.Double)(results[0]));
}
/// <remarks/>
[System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapRpcMethodAttribute("", RequestNamespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api", ResponseNamespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api")]
[return: System.Xml.Serialization.SoapElementAttribute("get_structReturn")]
public Map get_struct() {
object[] results = this.Invoke("get_struct", new object[0]);
return ((Map)(results[0]));
}
/// <remarks/>
public System.IAsyncResult Beginget_struct(System.AsyncCallback callback, object asyncState) {
return this.BeginInvoke("get_struct", new object[0], callback, asyncState);
}
/// <remarks/>
public Map Endget_struct(System.IAsyncResult asyncResult) {
object[] results = this.EndInvoke(asyncResult);
return ((Map)(results[0]));
}
/// <remarks/>
[System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapRpcMethodAttribute("", RequestNamespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api", ResponseNamespace="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api")]
[return: System.Xml.Serialization.SoapElementAttribute("struct_keycountReturn")]
public System.Double struct_keycount(Map theStruct) {
object[] results = this.Invoke("struct_keycount", new object[] {
theStruct});
return ((System.Double)(results[0]));
}
/// <remarks/>
public System.IAsyncResult Beginstruct_keycount(Map theStruct, System.AsyncCallback callback, object asyncState) {
return this.BeginInvoke("struct_keycount", new object[] {
theStruct}, callback, asyncState);
}
/// <remarks/>
public System.Double Endstruct_keycount(System.IAsyncResult asyncResult) {
object[] results = this.EndInvoke(asyncResult);
return ((System.Double)(results[0]));
}
}
/// <remarks/>
[System.Xml.Serialization.SoapTypeAttribute("Map", "http://xml.apache.org/xml-soap")]
public class Map {
/// <remarks/>
public mapItem[] item;
}
/// <remarks/>
[System.Xml.Serialization.SoapTypeAttribute("mapItem", "http://xml.apache.org/xml-soap")]
public class mapItem {
/// <remarks/>
public object key;
/// <remarks/>
public object value;
}
/// <remarks/>
[System.Xml.Serialization.SoapTypeAttribute("QueryBean", "http://rpc.xml.coldfusion")]
public class QueryBean {
/// <remarks/>
public string[] columnList;
/// <remarks/>
public object[] data;
}
/// <remarks/>
[System.Xml.Serialization.SoapTypeAttribute("CFCInvocationException", "http://rpc.xml.coldfusion")]
public class CFCInvocationException {
}
}
And finally, my CLI app that tests the service:
using System;
namespace pfapi_test
{
/// <summary>
/// Summary description for Class1.
/// </summary>
class Class1
{
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//
// TODO: Add code to start application here
//
Console.WriteLine("Instantiating WS");
remote_io_test.remote_io_testService testWS = new remote_io_test.remote_io_testService();
Console.WriteLine("Calling multiplier(3,15)");
Console.WriteLine(testWS.multiplier(3,15));
Console.WriteLine("Calling get_struct()");
remote_io_test.Map theStruct = testWS.get_struct();
Console.Write("result: ");
Console.WriteLine(theStruct);
Console.Write("result.item: ");
Console.WriteLine(theStruct.item);
Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to exit...");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
No matter what I try, theStruct.item is always "undefined value" according to the debugger. The printed output looks like:
Instantiating WS
Calling multiplier(3,15)
45
Calling get_struct()
result: pfapi_test.remote_io_test.Map
result.item:
Press Enter to exit...
I've tried using ColdFusion 8, and there's no difference. I've tried returning a real custom database with two properties instead of my ad-hoc associative array, and that works fine, but rewriting my API to avoid associative arrays isn't really an option at this time. The API works fine with ColdFusion, PHP/NuSOAP, and Ruby on Rails, so it seems like it should be possible to get it working with .NET as well.
I hope someone can provide some insight. I have the suspicion that there's some kind of namespace issue here, but I don't know SOAP and XML well enough to figure out what it is. I've also searched like mad for a solution online, but I haven't found a single person who's solved this problem, which is very disheartening!
Request:
POST /remote_api/pfapi/v/trunk/remote_io_test.cfc HTTP/1.1
VsDebuggerCausalityData: [snip]
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; MS Web Services Client Protocol 1.1.4322.2443)
Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8
SOAPAction: ""
Content-Length: 488
Expect: 100-continue
Host: leon.cupahr.tafkan.nooch
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:soapenc="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" xmlns:tns="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api" xmlns:types="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api/encodedTypes" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<soap:Body soap:encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">
<tns:get_struct />
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
Response:
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:14:33 GMT
Server: Apache/2.2.11 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.11 OpenSSL/0.9.7l DAV/2 PHP/5.2.8 JRun/4.0 Phusion_Passenger/2.2.7
Set-Cookie: CFID=21543;expires=Sat, 10-Dec-2039 15:14:33 GMT;path=/
Set-Cookie: CFTOKEN=479cc311ca4875db-9D346355-ED36-6183-C8895635E4EE1252;expires=Sat, 10-Dec-2039 15:14:33 GMT;path=/
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<soapenv:Body>
<ns1:get_structResponse soapenv:encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/" xmlns:ns1="http://trunk.v.pfapi.remote_api">
<get_structReturn xsi:type="ns2:Map" xmlns:ns2="http://xml.apache.org/xml-soap">
<item xmlns:soapenc="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">
<key xsi:type="soapenc:string">FOO</key>
<value xsi:type="soapenc:string">bar</value>
</item>
<item>
<key xsi:type="soapenc:string" xmlns:soapenc="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">ANOTHERKEY</key>
<value xsi:type="soapenc:string" xmlns:soapenc="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">another value</value>
</item>
</get_structReturn>
</ns1:get_structResponse>
</soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>
Update: I heard from the .NET developer on the other end, and he's tried all of the following to no avail:
using WCF instead of ASMX
using .NET 3.5
using VB.NET to communicate with the web service instead of C#
He did send me a screenshot of the "Data Type" section of the Service Reference Settings dialog. Is it possible that changing the settings for Collection type and Dictionary collection type might resolve this issue?
Update 2: here's the ColdFusion code for remote_io_test.cfc
<cfcomponent name="remote_io_test"
hint="This is a collection of test methods to allow remote developers
to evaluate datatype support, etc in their programming environment.">
<cffunction name="get_struct" returntype="struct" access="remote" output="no"
hint="Returns an associative array with two keys, 'foo' and 'anotherKey'.
Allows you to test your implementation's support for WDDX encoding.
ColdFusion and PHP (w/ NuSOAP) will automatically decode the result
into an associative array. Feedback on other languages is appreciated.">
<cfset var stFoo = structNew()>
<cfset stFoo.foo = "bar">
<cfset stFoo.anotherKey = "another value">
<cfreturn duplicate(stFoo)>
</cffunction> <!--- get_struct --->
<cffunction name="multiplier" returntype="numeric" access="remote" output="no"
hint="Multiplies two factors and returns the result. Allows you to test
passing simple variables to a remote method.">
<cfargument name="factor1" type="numeric" required="yes">
<cfargument name="factor2" type="numeric" required="yes">
<cfreturn factor1 * factor2>
</cffunction> <!--- multiplier --->
<cffunction name="struct_keycount" returntype="numeric" access="remote" output="no"
hint="Returns the number of keys in an upload associative array. Allows
you to test passing complex variables to a remote method.">
<cfargument name="theStruct" type="struct" required="yes">
<cfreturn structCount(theStruct)>
</cffunction> <!--- struct_keycount --->
Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for your replies!
Cross-posted at link text
I've been struggling with this item myself from the .NET client side of things - I'm trying to consume a web service written in ColdFusion. From the documentation I found, the struct data type in ColdFusion does not map directly onto any Web Services types, and it would seem to me that it is a fault with Axis.
You've probably read the same web pages as I have when trying to solve this problem, but it would seem if you want to create a web service using ColdFusion, the recommendation is not to use the struct type. If your web service is not live yet, and you can get away with using something different, I would suggest going down this route. I tried returning objects from ColdFusion, which worked fine for me from a .NET client.
I actually gave up on this problem and wrote a custom client for my .NET program which would just read the Xml returned by the ColdFusion web service and convert this into a dictionary, as I have no influence over the service I am trying to call.
One thing I did find during my testing - the service I am trying to call is running on an older version of ColdFusion (7 I believe). Whenever I call that service, the .NET client returns null. I installed ColdFusion on my own machine and wrote a simple service, and found that the .NET client returned an object of type Map (which had come from the WSDL), but the properties of the Map object were all null.
I'd be interested to see if Chris Haas's suggestion in the comments to your question of setting dotNetSoapEncFix solves the problem.
The answer is: don't use Coldfusion structs in your web service.
Like everyone else before us, we gave up and rewrote our API to not use any associative arrays in the request or response. We're now using scalars, arrays, and complexTypes that are automatically created from CFCs. This time around, we tested our proof-of-concept with PHP, Ruby, Coldfusion, Java, and .NET to make sure it was actually interoperable.
It makes a lot of sense now that a statically-typed language would be unable to handle a totally arbitrary remote datatype in any sensible way.
Thanks for all of your feedback!
There is a solution to your problem and it is here:
http://ws-i.org/Profiles/BasicProfile-2.0-2010-11-09.html#soapenc_Array
http://ws-i.org/Profiles/BasicProfile-1.2-2010-11-09.html#soapenc_Array
Your problem lays here to be exact:
<complexType name="ArrayOf_xsd_string">
<complexContent>
<restriction base="soapenc:Array">
<attribute ref="soapenc:arrayType" wsdl:arrayType="xsd:string[]"/>
</restriction>
</complexContent>
</complexType>
<complexType name="ArrayOfArrayOf_xsd_anyType">
<complexContent>
<restriction base="soapenc:Array">
<attribute ref="soapenc:arrayType" wsdl:arrayType="xsd:anyType[][]"/>
</restriction>
</complexContent>
</complexType>
Just redefine those types like this:
<element name="ArrayOf_xsd_string" type="tns:OnlyStringArrayType"/>
<complexType name="OnlyStringArrayType">
<sequence>
<element name="array_element" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
</sequence>
</complexType>
<element name="ArrayOfArrayOf_xsd_anyType" type="tns:AnyTypeArrayType"/>
<complexType name="AnyTypeArrayType">
<sequence>
<element name="array_element" type="xsd:anyType" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
</sequence>
</complexType>
it still doesn't fully conform to the WS-I profiles mentioned above , because of the element names, but it should be very easy to process by the clients and the class file generators.
I wrote this solution for others who would stumble upon this problem :)
And by the way WSDL and SOAP it is a one big pain in the.... ;)

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