Web References or WSDL?

[Chris Wallis]

What is the difference when using a web service in a
project between adding the Web Service as a Web Reference
and running wsdl.exe to create a Proxy class?

When would you use each method?

The reason I ask is because I have a third party Java web
service which when I try to add a web reference by
pointing to the wsdl file, I get the 'No web references
found on this page' error (after being prompted for
credential information), but I can use the web service by
running wsdl.exe on the wsdl file (which has been copied
locally to get around the credentials issue) and using the
proxy class created. I do not understand why one method
works and not the other?

 

[Dino Chiesa [Microsoft]]

There is (supposed to be) no difference.
"Add Web Reference" is available to VS.NET, which is a commercial tool.

wsdl.exe is available to anyone who has the (Free) .NET SDK.

They are supposed to do the same thing.
There are some sitiations where the VS mechanism does not digest third-party
WSDL's.
Those are being fixed.

 

[Chris Wallis]

I am using VS 2002 rather than 2003. Are these being fixed
in both versions or will we have to upgrade to VS2003?