creating a client to call a web service without a wsdl in c#

Question

I need to connect to a web service without knowing the wsdl; the only info I have is a sample request like the one below but I have no idea where to start from to build this xml; for example what is wsse:BinarySecurityToken? and do I have to create also prefixes like "wsu" or "wsse" ???

The info below are from a test server so there are any sensitive data disclosed here.

<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<soap:Header>
    <wsse:Security xmlns:wsse="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-secext-1.0.xsd">
        <wsse:UsernameToken wsu:Id="Username-123" xmlns:wsu="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-utility-1.0.xsd">
            <wsse:Username>gen-emiswebmobile.e-mis.co.uk</wsse:Username>
        </wsse:UsernameToken>
        <wsu:Timestamp wsu:Id="Timestamp-1" xmlns:wsu="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-utility-1.0.xsd">
            <wsu:Created>2017-06-29T22:42:44.870Z</wsu:Created>
            <wsu:Expires>2017-06-29T22:57:44.870Z</wsu:Expires>
        </wsu:Timestamp>
        <wsse:BinarySecurityToken wsu:Id="CertId-4468839874371617328" EncodingType="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-soap-message-security-1.0#Base64Binary" ValueType="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-x509-token-profile-1.0#X509v3" xmlns:wsu="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-utility-1.0.xsd">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</wsse:BinarySecurityToken>
        <Signature xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#">
            <SignedInfo>
                <CanonicalizationMethod Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2001/10/xml-exc-c14n#" />
                <SignatureMethod Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#rsa-sha1" />
                <Reference URI="#Timestamp-1">
                    <Transforms>
                        <Transform Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2001/10/xml-exc-c14n#" />
                    </Transforms>
                    <DigestMethod Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#sha1" />
                    <DigestValue>WOHqa2p3/ZcVQ2FU36OEU9gfYaI=</DigestValue>
                </Reference>
            </SignedInfo>
            <SignatureValue>q/ZGfYAacr6Vv/LwfyAwyxXGLVkJ7qXJYkMvrCludwNRaENHNR1LekPwVuMGQ95uoKzk9npEnefHrCD1+JmufKltDtXLIZmhUJNryhOcUHzSoDLjdCAOJ+Ylccf73fhI7uHJr63NlbmV6IVzTrb3RPpfoJDpuDqyrkqS0l4HQI3BkzbDYR3Eo3ce8oUzfZ32xpLTQ/LceI6DsaHMCtimxjhAJDa1NuRDbsosHgxw8MEms1hc5VwR4s2/h6GJEkz5EXegWkm9CBNlpgceaFF7HMUPZqm7PUTHTrsmfN9uEZlp4iaUQrCBPNwsju3dbD1nOxNAxQeGvx5RNL0xvY5emg==</SignatureValue>
            <KeyInfo Id="KeyId-4468839874371617327">
                <wsse:SecurityTokenReference wsu:Id="STRId-3E04823056058230" xmlns:wsu="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-wssecurity-utility-1.0.xsd">
                    <wsse:Reference ValueType="http://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-x509-token-profile-1.0#X509v3" URI="#CertId-4468839874371617328" />
                </wsse:SecurityTokenReference>
            </KeyInfo>
        </Signature>
    </wsse:Security>
    <Action xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/08/addressing">MiG</Action>
    <MessageID xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/08/addressing">84CF41DA-133A-442D-979B-D76697AF71BF</MessageID>
    <To xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/08/addressing">https://185.13.72.96/Miggateway</To>
    <ReplyTo xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/08/addressing">
        <Address>http://www.w3.org/2005/08/addressing/anonymous</Address>
    </ReplyTo>
</soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
    <q1:migRequest xmlns:q1="http://www.healthcaregateway.co.uk/mig">
        <q1:serviceDefinition>
            <q1:name>MIG.DATAEXTRACTIONSERVICE.EhrExtractRequest</q1:name>
            <q1:version>0.0.2</q1:version>
        </q1:serviceDefinition>
        <q1:serviceHeader>
            <q1:source xmlns:q1="http://www.healthcaregateway.co.uk/mig">
                <q1:identifier>externaldevuser:urn:hgl:addressing:ods:N00001</q1:identifier>
            </q1:source>
            <q1:target xmlns:q1="http://www.healthcaregateway.co.uk/mig">
                <q1:nationalCode>urn:hgl:addressing:ods:A00005</q1:nationalCode>
            </q1:target>
        </q1:serviceHeader>
        <q1:serviceContent>
            <q1:ehrExtractRequestv2-0 xmlns:q1="http://www.healthcaregateway.co.uk/mig">
                <q1:id>4df5cdb1-4a20-42a5-b604-6033eec5224d</q1:id>
                <q1:consent>
                    <q1:value>Given</q1:value>
                </q1:consent>
                <q1:provenance>
                    <q1:creationTime>2013-07-15T14:37:28.7273043Z</q1:creationTime>
                    <q1:system>
                        <q1:id>BED045C0-BC58-4934-8E11-2FC08F730060</q1:id>
                        <q1:name>EMISWebCR1 50002</q1:name>
                    </q1:system>
                </q1:provenance>
                <q1:patient>
                    <q1:primaryIdentifier type="NHS">8888888888</q1:primaryIdentifier>
                </q1:patient>
                <q1:requestSpecification>
                    <q1:id>654d8e02-6b09-4754-a095-968c397db560</q1:id>
                    <q1:responseFormat>OPENHR</q1:responseFormat>
                    <q1:request>
                        <q1:name>scm.diagnosis</q1:name>
                        <q1:includeAssociatedText>true</q1:includeAssociatedText>
                    </q1:request>
                </q1:requestSpecification>
            </q1:ehrExtractRequestv2-0>
        </q1:serviceContent>
    </q1:migRequest>
</soap:Body>

I did researched google but as I am not clear on what to do it is hard to focus on what to research. — brillox, Jun 30 '17 at 07:16
Ok I am getting there at least with this wsse stuff https://weblog.west-wind.com/posts/2012/Nov/24/WCF-WSSecurity-and-WSE-Nonce-Authentication however still need to figure it out how to build the whole thing. I never did this before, I always used WSDL as service reference — brillox, Jun 30 '17 at 07:25
The Binary Security Token is an X509 Certificate Token Profile. Basically an SSL certificate embeded in the Soap message. https://docs.oasis-open.org/wss/2004/01/oasis-200401-wss-x509-token-profile-1.0.pdf — Alexander Higgins, Jul 06 '17 at 09:20

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 03 '17 at 10:59

2

You can look here for some code sample.

The xml you posted is the soap envelope xml and you should be able to send it as shown in the sample (with LoadXml) and get a response. (in the xml you posted you invoke the MiG action with migRequest).

If you dont have the soap envelope request you will have to create one and it is the tricky part if you dont know which functions to call.
The structure of the request is this: (in your sample there is also security which is not present here)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <soap:Body>
    <MethodFoo>
      <param1>value</param1>
      <param2>value</param1>
    </MethodFoo>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

Look here for more on the request message structure.

answered Jul 03 '17 at 10:59

igorc

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Thanks Jason, Yes I have to create my own request; the one posted is an example given from this third party company I am dealing with. When building the request - SOAP envelop - can I discard the XMLs node prefixes like – brillox Jul 03 '17 at 14:08
probably not because it will fail to deserialize this data. if you do try to remove them dont forget to remove the xmlns declaration xmlns:q1="http://www.healthcaregateway.co.uk/mig" in the root – igorc Jul 03 '17 at 14:23
Jason I appreciate a lot your help; I am waiting for the Network team to open my PC so that I can connect to the end point for this; as soon as I can connect I will use your suggested link as a guide. I will keep you posted about my success or defeat :-) Thanks for this. – brillox Jul 03 '17 at 20:49
I got a message from stack overflow saying Your bounty on question "creating a client to call a web service without a wsdl in c#" is completed. You must award it to an answer within 24 hours. Did I not awarded you with the points? – brillox Jul 09 '17 at 19:02
its ok, ignore it. – igorc Jul 09 '17 at 19:07
@brillox - Do you still have information on how to send requests to EMIS? - I'm currently trying to do this – YaBCK Mar 12 '20 at 16:48
@ChrisBeckett unfortunately no because I am not working with that company anymore and of course I do not have access to my code anymore. – brillox Mar 12 '20 at 20:06
@brillox - No worries, thank you for letting me know. – YaBCK Mar 13 '20 at 15:36

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 06 '17 at 13:06

There are few ways to connect to a web service. Basically, you use one of the class to "post" the exact xml to the URL.

The common ways are to use WebClient, HttpClient. It is a relatively simple to post an xml to an URL.

If I understand you correctly, you are looking at ways of how to construct the Xml in the exact format required.

One way, we have handled a similar request is by the following approach.

Take the sample xml and convert it to a template

for eg,

<q1:system>
    <q1:id>BED045C0-BC58-4934-8E11-2FC08F730060</q1:id>
    <q1:name>EMISWebCR1 50002</q1:name>
</q1:system>

becomes

<q1:system>
    <q1:id>~system_id~</q1:id>
    <q1:name>~system_name~</q1:name>
</q1:system>

In the above sample ~system_id~, ~system_name~ are the placeholders. In your application code you do a find and replace with the actual values.

This does look like "low key"... but in the good old days (i.e., before we have xml everywhere), this was a popular approach :-)

Another more Xml way is to construct a C# class in the exact format. You populate your object with relevant values. Then you serialize your C# class to xml and post it to the URL. There are some popular SO links for this: Generate C# class from XML

Thanks Subbu, I will start to work on this next week but looks like both you and Jason comments will help me to fulfil this task — brillox, Jul 06 '17 at 13:22

creating a client to call a web service without a wsdl in c#

2 Answers2