>>But (obviously) nothing gets passed 'by reference' in the classic sense - i.e. a pointer to the data. All that happens is that .NET automatically includes elements for the byRef data in the return SOAP message. Unless the method in question is also used as a non-webservice method I can't see much point in this construct.<
Viv,
Why wouldn't that be useful in a WebService? It's as useful as it is for any other method where you need to return more than one piece of information that the calling program needs.