Using the West Wind Web Service Proxy Generator can help make the process of using .NET as a Web Service proxy drastically easier. It can generate a FoxPro class and .NET assembly for you through a very easy Wizard interface. Once generated most service calls can be made using standard FoxPro method calls even if complex types are passed or returned without custom XML formatting or complex configuration settings.
This tool provides the following features:
Using this tool is a snap and you can be up and running Web Service calls reliably in minutes.
One of the main features of this tool is an automating Wizard that creates a .NET proxy assembly from the specified Web Service and a FoxPro PRG class that calls this .NET component without requiring COM registration.
Here's a screenshot of the Wizard which by way of its fields demonstrates much of the functionality:
This tool automates the creation of Web Service clients utilizing the .NET framework called from Visual FoxPro to make SOAP/WSDL Web Service calls. It provides a Wizard (and class interface) that auto-generates the .NET Proxy Web service assembly to handles the Web Service interaction. It also creates a Visual FoxPro proxy class that maps each of the Web Service methods to a FoxPro method that can then be called to interact with the Web service. The base service implementation is provided as a simple FoxPro class in a PRG file that can be used in your applications. You simply include the PRG file plus a couple of DLLs and FoxPro classes and you're on your way.
Once generated easy tools let you browse the generated .NET assembly and FoxPro class, as well as provide you an easy way to create a ready-to use or include package that can be integrated into your application. Support files can be xCopy deployed - no COM registration is required, simply copy a couple of files with your applications. In most cases you don't need to write any .NET code or use Visual Studio - the Wizard manages the .NET and FoxPro proxy generation for you. We've also provided a quick way to browse the generated .NET assembly for discovery of the Web Service message types (ie. objects used as parameters or return values) that usually go along with the actual service implementation class.
COM Interop from FoxPro to .NET can be painful for two reasons: Any .NET component requires registration via the RegAsm.exe tool which is not always available on client machines and the fact that using standard COM Interop via CreateObject() in VFP doesn't allow access to all of .NET's types. wwDotNetBridge provides an alternative for calling .NET components by hosting the .NET runtime in Visual FoxPro on its own and providing a host of helper functions that allow access to any .NET type and feature like static method invokation, enumeration access, array management and more. Using wwDotnetBridge greatly facilitates creating instances (without COM registration) of Web Service related objects and manipulating them from Visual FoxPro.
If you're accessing Web Services with Visual FoxPro, .NET is a safe choice for making sure you are building service clients that are able to handle complex Web services with relative ease.
Check out this tool - it's a big time saver if you need to build Web services and don't want to figure out the technology and interaction from scratch. Download now.
If you want a deeper understanding of how Web Service interaction between FoxPro and .NET works you can read our Whitepaper on the subject which shows the traditional way of accessing Web services through .NET.