web method returning an array of an array

Hi,

I have a web service that returns the xml bellow. When I use MyDataset.ReadXml to put the xml in a dataset. It creates the datatable with 3 standard columns:

Name, value and ArrayOfMyObjectResponse_Id

When I check the content of the dataset, The contents of the XML gets splitted vertically into the dataset. Instead of that, I want my reading method to create a datatable with the columns to reflect each object of type MyObjectResponse :

The 4 columns should be:

contractid, contractnumber, Type and StartDate as you can see in the XML bellow. I put 3 rows returned as an example (ie: 2 instances of MyResponseObject).

<env:Envelope xmlns:env="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:soapenc="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<env:Body>
<n1:MyOBJECTResponse xmlns:n1="http://comapny.ca/Myapplication/submit"
xsi:type="n1:MyOBJECTResponse">
<MyResponseObject xsi:type="n1:MyResponseObject">
<MyResponseNV>
<name>contractid</name>
<value>567894</value>
</MyResponseNV>
<MyResponseNV>
<name>contractnumber</name>
<value>EOEE7654</value>
</MyResponseNV>
<MyResponseNV>
<name>Type</name>
<value>E</value>
</MyResponseNV>
<MyResponseNV>
<name>StartDate</name>
<value>2008/01/12</value>
</MyResponseNV>
</MyResponseObject>
<MyResponseObject xsi:type="n1:MyResponseObject">
<MyResponseNV>
<name>Contractid</name>
<value>28618098</value>
</MyResponseNV>
<MyResponseNV>
<name>contractnumber</name>
<value>POED176000</value>
</MyResponseNV>
<MyResponseNV>
<name>Type</name>
<value>P</value>
</MyResponseNV>
<MyResponseNV>
<name>StartDate</name>
<value>2008/01/12</value>
</MyResponseNV>
</MyResponseObject>
<MyResponseObject xsi:type="n1:MyResponseObject">
<MyResponseNV>
<name>Contractid</name>
<value>28618098</value>
</MyResponseNV>
<MyResponseNV>
<name>contractnumber</name>
<value>45ERTFDSE</value>
</MyResponseNV>
<MyResponseNV>
<name>Type</name>
<value>P</value>
</MyResponseNV>
<MyResponseNV>
<name>StartDate</name>
<value>2008/01/12</value>
</MyResponseNV>
</MyResponseObject>
</n1:MyOBJECTResponse>
</env:Body>
</env:Envelope>

You could create a function to convert the data:

Code:

---

    Private Shared Function CovertMyResponse(ByVal originalData As DataTable) As DataTable
        'setup new columns
        Dim convertedTable As New DataTable(originalData.TableName & "_Converted")
        With convertedTable.Columns
            .Add("contractid", GetType(Int32))
            .Add("contractnumber", GetType(String))
            .Add("Type", GetType(Char))
            .Add("StartDate", GetType(Date))
        End With
        'populate new columns with original data
        Dim convertedRow As DataRow = Nothing
        For Each originalRow As DataRow In originalData.Rows
            Dim name As String = CStr(originalRow("name"))
            Select Case name.ToLower
                Case "contractid"
                    convertedRow = convertedTable.NewRow
                    convertedTable.Rows.Add(convertedRow)
                    convertedRow(name) = originalRow("value")
                Case Else
                    convertedRow(name) = originalRow("value")
            End Select
        Next

        Return convertedTable
    End Function

---

If you've got control of the data, it maybe best for you to modify the way you retrieve it.