How to debug "(500) Internal Server Error." when calling web services?

Question

I have an application where I am creating a SOAP request by hand and hitting a SharePoint instance. My problem is that the call returns the error: The remote server returned an error: (500) Internal Server Error. giving me little to go after as far as the cause of the error.

I've checked the ULS logs and Event logs on the target server, but nothing is showing up there. Suggestions on where to look for more info?

More info:

I cannot add a web reference or use wsdl.exe to create a class to make this request, I need to create the SOAP request by hand. Below is the code I am using to make the request:

string soapStr =
    @"<?xml version=""1.0"" encoding=""utf-8""?>
        <soap:Envelope xmlns:xsi=""http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"" xmlns:xsd=""http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"" xmlns:soap=""http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"">
          <soap:Body>
            <CopyIntoItems xmlns=""http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/"">
              <SourceUrl>http://devint/a/ceo/Pages/BasePage.aspx<SourceUrl>
              <DestinationUrls>
                <string>http://sptestmnc.nevcounty.net/Resources/Images</string>
              </DestinationUrls>
              <Fields>
                <FieldInformation Type=""Text"" DisplayName=""Title"" InternalName=""Title"" Value=""{0}"" Id=""{{bc91a437-52e7-49e1-8c4e-4698904b2b6d}}"" />
              </Fields>
              <Stream>{1}</Stream>
            </CopyIntoItems>
          </soap:Body>
        </soap:Envelope>";

HttpWebRequest req = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(Url);
req.Headers.Add("SOAPAction", "\"http://tempuri.org/" + MethodName + "\"");
req.ContentType = "text/xml;charset=\"utf-8\"";
req.Accept = "text/xml";
req.Method = "POST";

using (Stream stm = req.GetRequestStream())
{

    soapStr = string.Format(soapStr, "testFile.png", content);
    using (StreamWriter stmw = new StreamWriter(stm))
    {
        stmw.Write(soapStr);
    }
}

using (StreamReader responseReader = new StreamReader(req.GetResponse().GetResponseStream()))
{
    string result = responseReader.ReadToEnd();
    ResultXML = XDocument.Parse(result);
    ResultString = result;
}

Answer 1

You could user Fiddler. In my experience is the best tools to check what is going on behind the scene when the Browse talks with the SharePoint Server.

http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/version.asp

Also you could use the Developer Tool (F12) on the Internet Explorer 8+ and in the Script tab you can do some javascript debug.

Cheers!

UPDATE:

This problem ended up being caused by the line:

req.Headers.Add("SOAPAction", "\"http://tempuri.org/" + MethodName + "\"");

when I changed it to:

req.Headers.Add("SOAPAction", "\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/CopyIntoItems\"");

the 500 error went away.

Answer 2

As I'd agree with Javier, I'd like to ask if you're using any proxies or firewalls?

The reason I ask is because you may need to configure your proxy settings accordingly otherwise. If so you'll want to update your code to utilize the system proxy, which pulls from your internet options (in the control panel) :

HttpWebRequest req = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(Url);
req.Headers.Add("SOAPAction", "\"http://tempuri.org/" + MethodName + "\"");
req.ContentType = "text/xml;charset=\"utf-8\"";
req.Accept = "text/xml";
req.Method = "POST";
req.Proxy = WebRequest.GetSystemWebProxy();

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I might sound like a Noob, but I can't see any authentication happening in your piece of code or am i missing something ? I was once trying to use SOAP while coding a gadget for windows 7 to get data from a SharePoint list, but I couldn't by pass ISA server or could find a way.