Bonus Content

Welcome to the XML Web Services for ASP.NET Web site! We're glad you found your way here and hope you will find this site a useful supplement to the book.

Many people have been singing the praises of XML for a number of years now and, as it turns out, they are right! With the introduction of the .NET Framework in 2002, the capability to have your systems, servers, and applications communicate with a wide variety of disparate systems is built right in. How do these systems communicate with one another given the complexities of their differences? The answer is that they use XML, which is easily understood by most platforms today.

Not only has Microsoft and its .NET platform completely embraced the concept of Web services and the technologies that they are built upon, but other power hitters, including IBM, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle, have jumped on board and laid out their own Web services visions.

This book is written to show you what you need to know to start building XML Web services right away within the ASP.NET environment. This technology is a dramatic change from what you might be used to. Some describe it as an even bigger event in the technical world than the introduction of the client/server model.

The book shows you exactly how to build everything, from the most basic XML Web services to some of the more advanced elements. Besides covering various applications, this book deals with the issues of security, data access (ADO.NET), and the new Visual Studio .NET IDE. It introduces you to everything you need to know to fully understand the .NET Framework in how it relates to XML Web services.

Whether you are trying to learn how to build XML Web services or consume them, this book will show you what you need to get the job done. This book covers everything that you need to know to start working with XML Web services today.

The author, Bill Evjen, is constantly out preaching the praises of this revolutionary new technology. After reading the book, feel free to contact him with any questions at [email protected].

The XMLWS.zip file, available on the downloads page, contains the code from various chapters. After you download the file, you can open it and extract the contents by double-clicking. To unzip the code archives, you need an unzipping tool, such as WinZip.

When extracting the files, use WinZip's default options (confirm that the Use Folder Names option is checked) and extract the XMLWS.zip file to a drive on your system that has at least 3MB of available space. The extraction process creates a folder called XMLWS. As long as the Use Folder Names option is checked in the Extract dialog box, an entire folder structure is created within the XMLWS folder. You'll see folders arranged by chapter number, and some of those chapter folders will contain subfolders.

Thanks again for visiting the site. We're certain you'll find the material posted here useful and this Web site a great tool that helps you get the most out of your XML Web services. Good luck!