BDC “WebServiceProxyType” property

Using Business Data Catalog to WebService, replacing the automatically generated proxy server (using “WebServiceProxyType” property).

Business Data Catalog (BDC) is the new feature of SharePoint 2007 .

Here is an example of using one of the features that allows the replacement of the automatically generated proxy with any custom build assembly (“WebServiceProxyType” property).

The Webservice BDC documentation has a lot of great samples of using Windows authentication. But how can you access the web service that requires some custom built authentication?

Sometimes web service vendors provide the code of the proxy classes that implement a custom built logic to access the webservice. If you want to use their webservice you have to use their proxy.

The solution for this problem is using the WebServiceProxyType property. By default the proxy classes are generated automatically by the Sharepint infrastructure. Using this parameter gives you unlimited possibilities to access the custom built webservice.

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Here is the sample of Properties node from BDC configuration file that is using this property.

<Properties>

<!– The Web Service proxy namespace name you specify here will be used by the Business Data Catalog when it generates the proxy.–>

<Property Name="WebServiceProxyNamespace" Type="System.String">BDC_WebServiceProxy.BDC_SampleWebServiceProxy</Property>

<Property Name="WebServiceProxyType" Type="System.String">BDC_WebServiceProxy.BDC_SampleWebServiceProxy.SampleWebService, BDC_WebServiceProxy, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=7af07a0cbecbce00</Property>

<!– Enter the wildcard character that your Web Methods support. Business Data Catalog will use the wildcard character with filters.–>

<Property Name="WildcardCharacter" Type="System.String">$</Property>

<!– URL to WSDL or ASMX.–>

<Property Name="WsdlFetchUrl" Type="System.String">http://localhost/SampleWebserviceCompiled/Service.asmx</Property>

</Properties>

As you can see you have to use the fully qualified assembly name when you define WebServiceProxyNamespace property.

The assembly specified should be accessible by SharePoint framework, it can be in the bin folder of the application or in the GAC.