Flash Remoting: The Definitive Guide

Web Services from an ASP.NET Server

Accessing a web service from Flash using Flash Remoting on an ASP.NET server is almost as easy as it is from a ColdFusion MX Server. Like ColdFusion MX, you do not have to supply any extra code on the server to use a remote web service. The only difference is that you need to set up the proper permissions on the ASP.NET server. ASP.NET contains a utility called wsdl.exe, which Flash Remoting uses to automatically generate proxies for web services. The ASP.NET server creates a .dll file in your local assembly cache that acts as a proxy for the web service when you first call the service. This proxy remains in place for future calls to the service. For that reason, the first call to the service takes a little longer than subsequent calls. It’s a good idea to delete these files manually during development, to prevent the use of a cached web service.

The Windows user ASPNET (found in Administrative Tools → Computer Management → Users and Groups) needs to be set up with permissions to write to the bin directory in your Flash Remoting application. This allows the ASP.NET server to create the .dll files necessary to consume the web service. ASP.NET also creates a C# source file for the DLL that can be modified and recompiled. The ASPNET user also needs Script execute permission from the IIS management console.

Tip

If you can’t access a web service, even after applying the proper permissions, check the permission level on the wsdl.exe file, which resides ...