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SOAP client for C++

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31 Mar 20042 min read 1.4M   5.2K   61   99
A base class to ease the work of calling a webservice in C++.

Introduction

While creating web service and consuming it are very easy and intuitive in the .NET world, sometimes we still need to handle it in legacy systems. Several days ago, I faced a problem to call a web service in my old VC6 project. I Googled the web and realized that MS SOAP SDK will be the solution. Being familiar with C# language, going back to C++ is kind of frustrating, especially when handling COM interfaces. So I decided to write a helper class to ease the work of calling a web service, which is attached here.

The base class

The base class is called SoapClientBase, which is for inheritance only, implements most tasks to talk with the SOAP SDK. I will rather not talk a lot about the code of the base class. Instead, I'll give the steps about how to write an inherited class. The code of the base class is short, take a look at it for yourself if you want.

The inherited class

The code of the inherited class is even shorter. Here is the complete code of my class:

#pragma once
#include "SoapClientBase.h"

class AuthServiceClient : public SoapClientBase
{
public:
 AuthServiceClient(void) : SoapClientBase()
 {
  Init("<A href="http://localhost/AuthService/AuthService.asmx?wsdl">http://localhost/AuthService/AuthService.asmx?wsdl</A>", "AuthService", "");
 }

 bool IsAuthorized(LPCTSTR username, LPCTSTR password)
 {
  _variant_t varParams[2] = {  password, username };
  _variant_t varResult;
  m_hr = Invoke(L"IsAuthorized", varParams, 2, &varResult);
  return VARIANT_TRUE == varResult.boolVal;
 }
};

The signature of my webservice method (C#) is:

C#
[WebMethod]
public bool IsAuthorized(string username, string password);

As you have already seen, all that an inherited class should do is to call Init function in the constructor (or you might choose to call it explicitly outside the class), and then wrap all the web methods in local functions. You have to write all the wrap functions manually, but it's not hard to do. One thing that you should note here is that the parameter order should be reversed in the parameter array.

How to call

After you implemented the inherited class, use it to call the webservice almost the same way as you might do in C#. Here's an example:

AuthServiceClient service;
bool bResult = service.IsAuthorized(strName, strPassword);

Very simple, isn't it:)

Dependency

First of all, SOAP Toolkit3.0 SDK or SOAP Toolkit3.0 Redistributable must be installed. The base class file contains the import instruction to load the SOAP DLL. You might have to change the path if you installed the SDK in another place.

The base class does not depend on MFC nor ATL. Instead, I copied a little code from ATL to make life easier:) Therefore, you can use this class anywhere, no matter which library the application uses.

Okay, that's all. The code is very short, so don't expect too much :) The point is: it makes my life easier. And I hope it makes your life easier too. Happy programming!

License

This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

A list of licenses authors might use can be found here


Written By
China China
I'm a chinese programer living in Shanghai, currently working for a software company whose main business is to deliver computer based testing. Software simulation for computer based testing and certifications is my main responsibility in this company. Execpt for software development, I like out-door activities and photography. I am willing to make friends in China and all over the world, so contact me if you have anything in common with meSmile | :)

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralRe: Fails accessing Google web service Pin
gww26-Oct-04 8:40
gww26-Oct-04 8:40 
GeneralCreate soap client object fail Pin
red_rive30-Aug-04 1:07
red_rive30-Aug-04 1:07 
GeneralRe: Create soap client object fail Pin
red_rive30-Aug-04 17:38
red_rive30-Aug-04 17:38 
GeneralRe: Create soap client object fail Pin
Neil Yao30-Aug-04 20:23
Neil Yao30-Aug-04 20:23 
GeneralRe: Create soap client object fail Pin
vijju6-Jun-05 3:38
vijju6-Jun-05 3:38 
GeneralRe: Create soap client object fail Pin
Shan Yu3-Apr-06 20:21
Shan Yu3-Apr-06 20:21 
Question.NET Framework SDK? Pin
FernandoMalard14-Jul-04 3:08
FernandoMalard14-Jul-04 3:08 
AnswerRe: .NET Framework SDK? Pin
Neil Yao14-Jul-04 15:39
Neil Yao14-Jul-04 15:39 
This is for use without .net framework. There's better way in the .net world. You will not need this if you use .net
GeneralRe: .NET Framework SDK? Pin
FernandoMalard15-Jul-04 1:35
FernandoMalard15-Jul-04 1:35 
GeneralError Pin
Saiprabhu24-Jun-04 1:07
professionalSaiprabhu24-Jun-04 1:07 
Generalcan't init Pin
yunze21-Jun-04 23:36
yunze21-Jun-04 23:36 
GeneralRe: can't init Pin
Neil Yao22-Jun-04 15:05
Neil Yao22-Jun-04 15:05 
GeneralRe: can't init Pin
MediaUser14-Aug-04 3:12
MediaUser14-Aug-04 3:12 
GeneralRe: can't init Pin
MediaUser16-Aug-04 2:45
MediaUser16-Aug-04 2:45 
GeneralE_INVALIDARG Pin
brentSSY21-May-04 23:45
brentSSY21-May-04 23:45 
GeneralRe: E_INVALIDARG Pin
Neil Yao23-May-04 15:25
Neil Yao23-May-04 15:25 
GeneralE_INVALIDARG Pin
brentSSY21-May-04 23:45
brentSSY21-May-04 23:45 
Generalgood job. Pin
Anonymous21-May-04 23:23
Anonymous21-May-04 23:23 
GeneralCan't get this to work Pin
Rich Myers23-Apr-04 9:12
Rich Myers23-Apr-04 9:12 
GeneralRe: Can't get this to work Pin
Neil Yao25-Apr-04 15:39
Neil Yao25-Apr-04 15:39 
GeneralRe: Can't get this to work Pin
Rich Myers26-Apr-04 3:44
Rich Myers26-Apr-04 3:44 
GeneralRe: Can't get this to work Pin
Robert Pond26-Apr-04 4:45
Robert Pond26-Apr-04 4:45 
GeneralRe: Can't get this to work Pin
Rich Myers26-Apr-04 10:11
Rich Myers26-Apr-04 10:11 
GeneralRe: Can't get this to work Pin
Robert Pond26-Apr-04 10:56
Robert Pond26-Apr-04 10:56 
GeneralRe: Can't get this to work Pin
Neil Yao26-Apr-04 15:24
Neil Yao26-Apr-04 15:24 

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