>>>>>>>>>>>>>I'm doing an app which is initially a C# WinForms app where the users will connect via VPN.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>At some point in the future it will be converted to a web app, so I want to use a WS up front.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>I'm fairly new at this, and I've seen some examples, as well as prior postings with you and Bonnie
>>>>>>>>>>>>>that got me going this way.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>I didn't think you could pass a dataset through a WS into the back end.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>.NET to .NET you can pass pretty much anything. As long as the client understands the type it can be completely transparent.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>But, as I said to Mike, if you anticipate that non-NET clients will be using your WS then passing back a DataSet as XML is not particularly consumer friendly.
>>>>>>>>>>>>OTOH (and I don't know if it's just me but) I find I'm dealing with a lot of web services that do just that. Great if you're a .NET consumer; pain if you're not......
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>Not sure I understand. You're saying that XML is not consumer friendly?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>.NET DataSet created XML isn't - it's kind of a mess.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>But wouldn't it be easier to pass around than a data set, as it's a string?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Yes, to me it would be easier to pass around. I think what we are trying to say is DataSet.WriteXML creates "Microsoftized" XML, the same way Frontpage creates "Microsoftized" HTML. I have tried to pass .NET created XML to VFP and VFP created XML to .NET with little success. If you want to create a web service that returns a truly generic XML string, you are probably better off manually constructing the string.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Ok, I see. Leave to MS to change the XML.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>They didn't really "change" it, they just made it more complicated that they probably needed to. I live by the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) methodology and MS doesn't.
>>>>>
>>>>>Does the XML follow standards? You mentioned not being able to work with it in VFP, so I'm wondering if it's safe
>>>>>to use.
>>>>
>>>>Sure, it follows standards. I just had problems using the built in methods in both languages to produce XML that was compatible with each other. Granted, I am not an XML expert.
>>>
>>>Ok, well my aim is to allow access to the data via XML so that any XML compliant client can call it. I also like
>>>Michel's suggestion of creating .Net specific methods that return datasets. I'll probably build those in when I'm
>>>done.
>>
>>Give it a try - maybe you will have better results than I.
>
>That doesn't inspire confidence. <g>

What's the worst that can happen... ;-)