Testing the Web Service

An easy way of testing a .NET Web Service is to use a browser to go to a URL like the one given above.
A WWW page containing a list of the methods offered by the Web Service will be dynamically generated.
You can then click on the name of the method you want to be executed.
Another WWW page will be dynamaically generated.
It will contain a web form that has textboxes for the method's arguments and a submit button that is labelled INVOKE.
When the button is clicked, an appropriate HTTP request is sent to the Web Service's webserver.
The appropriate method will then be executed.
And then the webserver will send a reply back to the browser.
The reply will not be coded in HTML.
Instead, the body of the reply is usually coded in a simple XML language.

For example:

0071: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
0072: <double xmlns="http://www.a.com/webservices/">
0073: 32
0074: </double>

What the browser does when it receives this XML document depends on the browser being used.
Some browsers will display the XML nicely in the pane of the browser's window; ...
... others will ask you what you want to do with the XML; ...
... or you may get a blank screen and you have to click on View Source Code to see the XML.