Check if a webservice exists

Question

Could someone please be kind enough to show me the best way to determine if a webservice (ASP.NET) exists at a given URL?

I assume an approach will be something along the lines of issuing a request using System.Net.Webclient but how could I determine if it is a valid webservice and what sort of request should I issue?

EDIT: To add a bit more context I am determining if a webservice exists because I am attempting to build a generic tool that uses arbitrary webservices.

Answer 1

The only way IMHO to be sure the service is up is to be able to call an innocuous method on the service and verify the response. Retrieving the WSDL is not sufficient.

There is a similar SO question on this here:- How do I test connectivity to an unknown web service in C#?