Sending List of objects in c# web service

Question

I have the following two objects:

public class Dog
{
  public string Name {get;set;}
  public int Age {get;set;}
} 

public class Person
{
  public string Name {get;set;}
  public string City {get;set;}
  public string ID {get;set;}
} 

Now, in the server side, I build a mix List of Person and Dog, and I would like to return this List to the client via web-service (asmx).

The order is important, and eventually my list will hold more types.

How can I return a list of mixed object in web-service?

Thank you.

Answer 1

I think you should create new class that encapsulate your many classes

public class Dog : MyClass
{
  public string Name {get;set;}
  public int Age {get;set;}
} 

public class Person : MyClass
{
  public string Name {get;set;}
  public string City {get;set;}
  public string ID {get;set;}
} 

public class NewClass
{
    public enum OBJType { 
       Dog,Person
    } // like a constant for specific object type
    public Dog D_Dog { get; set;  }
    public Person D_Person { get; set; }
    public OBJType Type { get; set; } 
    public int seq { get; set; }

}

Then it should be use like this

        //At Server
        List<NewClass> newList = new List<NewClass>();
        NewClass Item1 = new NewClass();
        Item1.D_Dog =  new Dog() { Name = "Woof", Age = 3 };
        Item1.seq = 1;
        Item1.Type =  NewClass.OBJType.Dog;
        newList.Add(Item1);

        NewClass Item2 = new NewClass();
        Item2.D_Person = new Person() { Name = "John", City = "TPP" , ID =111 };
        Item2.seq = 2;
        Item2.Type = NewClass.OBJType.Person;
        newList.Add(Item2);


        //At Client
        List<NewClass> newList = //..get form webservice 

         foreach (var Item in newList)
        {
            if (Item.Type == NewClass.OBJType.Dog)
            {
                // using Item.D_Dog;
            }
            else {
                // using Item.D_Person

            }

        }

Answer 2

Not a pro at C# so excuse if its not the most efficient.

1st class ie Person.cs

public class Person : MyClass
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string City { get; set; }
    public string ID { get; set; }
}

2nd Class ie Dog.cs

public class Dog : MyClass
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

The inherited class ie MyClass.cs

public class MyClass
    {
        public string Type { get; set; }
    }

Notice I have added a field Type to differentiate between objects in the program consuming the webservice. You can improve this with enums for type.

The Example function to return the data.

public List<MyClass> returnData()
        {


            List<MyClass> returningdata = new List<MyClass>();

            Person pers = new Person();
            pers.City = "NELSPRUIT";
            pers.Name = "TED";
            pers.ID = "5502226585665";
            pers.Type = "PERSON";

            returningdata.Add(pers);

            Dog doggy = new Dog();
            doggy.Name = "Tiny";
            doggy.Age = 2;
            doggy.Type = "DOG";

            returningdata.Add(doggy);

            return returningdata;
        }

Hope this is what you wanted.