[quoted text, click to view] "Sadagopan" <Sadagopan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A7AF0DFA-2C89-41B7-9614-3391629FB2D7@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
> I am thinking of returning enumerated data types in my web service
> response.
> My enumeration values are driven from a database lookup table. The table
> get
> new lookup records and these need to be enumerated to the clients.
> The problem I face is , any time when these new records are added , the
> WSDL
> changes and the client needs to update the reference , if not there is a
> compatibility issue.
> The other option I thought of supporting different versions of webservice
> so
> that the compatibility is not broken.
> Questions
> 1. Is it a good option to return enumerated values in this type of
> scenario
> 2. If no to question1 what will be the recommened solution for these type
> of
> lookup scenario
> 3. If yes to question1 how do we handle compatibility issue
Salesforce.com has a web service based API. It allows customers to very
thoroughly customize the application, adding new columns to tables, and even
adding new tables and relations between tables. Naturally, the WSDL changes
to reflect this.
They have an area on their web site where you can download your own,
customer-specific WSDL, up to date with whatever changes you've made. You
could do the same, or have a web service operation which returns the current
WSDL.
As to enumerated values, they're ok (once you deal with a dynamic WSDL). Be
aware, though that XML Schema doesn't do enumertions like a programming
language does. One can enumerate the acceptable values for a particular
attribute or element, but that is only a constraint on the lexical space.
The enumerated values don't have integers associated with them.
John
