# NAV Web Service Programming Resources

##### Patrick Steadman - Apr 8, 2015 in[Notes](/content/categories/Notes/index.html)

Here are some of the resources I found helpful for learning to develop Dynamics NAV web service based applications.

#### [C/AL Programming:](/content/2015/04/08/NAV-programming-resources/#C-AL-Programming "C/AL Programming:"/index.html) C/AL Programming:

[Introduction to CAL\ Programming](http://www.consultec.es/DocTutoriales/Introduction_to_CAL_Programming.pdf)

This provides a good overview of the basics of CAL programming, which can become necessary in building a web service applications when a custom codeunit or page extension is required.

#### [Setting up Web Services:](/content/2015/04/08/NAV-programming-resources/#Setting-up-Web-Services "Setting up Web Services:"/index.html) Setting up Web Services:

[Vjecko Web Service Recorded\ Session](http://vjeko.com/blog/connecting-to-nav-through-web-services-recorded-session)

Vjecko.com has a lot of detailed articles about web service programming, but this older post has a pdf and recorded session that shows how to expose and connect to web services from a .NET application. Unfortunately, he shows how to create Web Service references in .NET using the now-deprecated Web Reference method (from .NET 2) instead of the more current Service Reference method.

[Using Service Reference to Connect to Web\ Services](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/freddyk/archive/2010/01/20/connecting-to-nav-web-services-from-c-using-service-reference-config-file-version.aspx)

This explains how to use Service Reference, using code instead of XML web.config configuration, which I found difficult to configure. (Each time I updated the service reference, I would have to reconfigure the XML).

#### [NAV Upgrade Process:](/content/2015/04/08/NAV-programming-resources/#NAV-Upgrade-Process "NAV Upgrade Process:"/index.html) NAV Upgrade Process:

[Migration to SQL Server from C/SIDE\ Database](http://saurav-nav.blogspot.com/2012/12/nav-2013-upgrade-part-iv-sql-migration.html)

In order to use web services, you don’t need to be using the Role Tailored Client, but you must be using the a SQL server based NAV database. Web Services can be configured and exposed using the Classic Client for SQL Server Databases.

[Debugging Code Called by Web\ Services](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nav/archive/2012/03/05/rtc-debugging.aspx)

C/AL code won’t necessarily execute the same as it did in the Classic Client when called as a Web Service. C/AL code called as web service execute in the NAV Server tier, instead of the client. [Certain\ functions](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff477107.aspx) aren’t available for code running in the NAV Server, and some design changes need to be made (for example, CONFIRM dialogue boxes don’t make sense in the context of a web service). To debug the codeunits called through web services (or the Role Tailored Client), you will need to use Visual Studio. [More\ information.](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd338765.aspx#SU)

#### [Deploying a .NET Application:](/content/2015/04/08/NAV-programming-resources/#Deploying-a-NET-Application "Deploying a .NET Application:"/index.html) Deploying a .NET Application:

[Deploying to IIS](http://www.asp.net/mvc/overview/deployment/visual-studio-web-deployment/deploying-to-iis)

After you’ve built a .NET application that consumes .NET web services, you’ll have to find a way to deploy it on your servers, or Azure. Connection strings can be used to specify different NAV servers for different environments (like development, QA, and prod).