SQL Query result via .net webservice to a non .net- Python client

Question

I wish to consume a .net webservice containing the results of SQL Server query using a Python client. I have used the Python Suds library to interface to the same web service but not with a set of results. How should I structure the data so it is efficiently transmitted and consumed by a Python client. There should be a maximum of 40 rows of data, containing 60 bytes of data per row in 5 columns.

Answer 1

Suds is a library to connect via SOAP, so you may already have blown "efficiently transmitted" out of the window, as this is a particularly verbose format over the wire. Your maximum data size is relatively small, and so should almost certainly be transmitted back in a single message so the SOAP overhead is incurred only once. So you should create a web service that returns a list or array of results, and call it once. This should be straightforwardly serialised to a single XML body that Suds then gives you access to.