Using a Web Service - Page 5

In the previous page you completed the steps needed to get the web service example working on your server. This is the part that we have all been waiting for - the code explanation on why the code works the way it does. Over this and the next page, I will explain what each line of code does and how it enables the interaction between the interface and the web service.

Code Explained

MovieService.TopMovies ws;

In this line, we are declaring a new variable ws with the type MovieService.TopMovies. Essentially, our ws variable will now allow us to access the various methods found in the MovieService.TopMovies class once initialized.

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

Page.RegisterHiddenField("__EVENTTARGET", "btnInput");

ws = new MovieService.TopMovies();

}

The code in the Page_Load block runs when the page is loaded initially. This is a good location to get some of the default variables initialized as well as set some properties prior to the user having a chance to interact with the page.

Page.RegisterHiddenField("__EVENTTARGET", "btnInput");

The above line of code is used to ensure that pressing the Enter button on the page causes our btnInput button to fire - almost as if it was clicked with the mouse. For the most part, I found this to be the easier of the ways in which Enter press functionality can be enabled.

The other ways either involved creating a Default Button or having some JavaScript that listened for an Enter press and execute some script when such a press is detected.

Overall, being able to set a KeyPress event should be much easier. Even the line of code I used above is not self-evident unless you spend some time pouring through the documentation. I will file this under the "I hope it gets fixed in the next version" cabinet.

ws = new MovieService.TopMovies();

The Page_Load method is automatically invoked when the page is loaded, so when the page is loaded, the ws variable is initialized to be an object of type MovieService.TopMovies().

Ok, we are almost done. There is only one more page left, and I will wrap up the code explanation on the next page.

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