As I mentioned yesterday I've been exploring how to use XML and SOAP as applied to web services, and so I was looking for some working examples. Here's what I've received.
First, a correction. The best place to dip into the ESRI (mostly free) web services is probably at http://arcweb.esri.com/arcwebonline/index.htm. MapInfo's entry into this arena is a product called Envinsa. Check it out at http://www.envinsa.com/. Ian Erickson pointed this one out and notes that "...specialized web services are NOT cheap but they simplify delivery of geo-spatial solutions to such a degree that more and more software developers will not need to be GIS experts, but rather just a subscriber to a geo-spatial service." I think that maybe he has something here... Should we developers be worried? But for now, there are still a few free toys to play with that will teach you how it's done. IL Thomas mentions TerraServer: "Microsoft TerraService has code examples, SOAP, etc. And you can link to it. See http://terraserver-usa.com/terraservice.asmx. Introductory material is here: http://terraservice.net/about.aspx."; Antoine Gilbert mentioned http://www.xmethods.com/, and suggested I go to the "full listing" link. This is a collection of generally non-map-oriented services --mostly free-- but as the first response to the "daily quote" one I tried said, "Free advice is worth what you paid for it." Antoine also mentioned XMLSpy, which is a toolkit to facilitate working with web services via SOAP and their WSDL (Web Service Description Language) file. As it turns out, I spent a half day on Sunday coding a SOAP request and response XML-parsing module in VB6 (because VB6 is what I have on my laptop at home) to access the Arcweb FindPlace web service, but when I got into my office this morning (where I have C# and .NET) I was shocked to realize that all you have to do to set up a client to "consume" a web service in the .NET environment is simply add the WSDL file to "Web References" and badda bing, all the objects for the web service are defined and ready to go! The only code you have to write after that is about 10 lines to get it to work. Took about 10 minutes. Wow! C#, .NET and the Visual Studio IDE is rather impressive! But I suppose using these new tools is like driving a truck with four-wheel drive. Now I can get stuck in much more remote places! - Bill Thoen --------------------------------------------------------------------- List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message number: 14175
