Planning Step 2: Identify the Web Methods to Work With
Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010
Now that we have identified the list of external content types and associations we need (see Planning Step 1: Identify External Content Types and Associations Involved in Your External System). The next step is to understand what the Sample Orders Web Service offers and how we can map our requirements to the existing Web methods.
To see the methods that are provided by the Sample Orders Web Service, you can look at the SampleWebService proxy generated by WSDL.exe. By comparing the in and out parameters of the different Web methods, you can make your choices for Finder, SpecificFinder, association methods, and so on.
In the SampleWebService proxy, you will notice methods such as GetCustomers, GetCustomerByID, and GetOrdersForCustomerAndRegion. You map the Method element in the metadata to the Web methods exposed by the SampleWebService proxy.
For information about the stereotyped operations and the input and return parameters that the methods expect, see Creating .NET Connectivity Assemblies and Web Services.