SOAP client in Delphi "The handle is in the wrong state for the requested operation"

Question

I have built the worlds dumbest and most simple SOAP server, in about 3 clicks, in visual studio. The exact steps in visual studio 2010: First create a new project as a web application, Then add a new item of type web service. (See accepted answer here for picture.) That soap server service Service1 has a simple method GetData:

A snippet from clientService1.pas, created using WSDL importer...

  IService1 = interface(IInvokable)
  ['{967498E8-4F67-AAA5-A38F-F74D8C7E346A}']
    function  GetData(const value: Integer): string; stdcall;
    function  GetDataUsingDataContract(const composite: CompositeType2): CompositeType2; stdcall;
  end;

When I try to run this method, like this:

procedure TForm3.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
 rio : THTTPRIO;
 sv:IService1;
 addr : string;
 data : string;
begin
    //addr := '....'; // url from visual studio 2010 live debug instance.
    rio := THTTPRIO.Create(nil);
    sv := GetIService1( true, addr, rio );
    try
        data := sv.GetData(  0);

        Button1.Caption := data;

    finally
        sv := nil;

        rio.Free;
    end;
 end;

The error I get is this:

ESOAPHTTPException: 
 The handle is in the wrong state for the requested operation -    
 URL:http://localhost:8732/Design_Time_Addresses/WcfServiceLibrary1/Service1/ -      
 SOAPAction:http://tempuri.org/IService1/GetData'.

The URL works fine when I paste the url above into a web browser, so the usual answer that the SOAP code in Delphi has the tendency to not notice an HTTP failure, does not seem likely. Rather it seems that I am either (a) experiencing breakage in WinInet (known to happen in some versions of windows), or (b) doing something wrong?

It seems to me that anybody who has visual studio and delphi both installed, should be able to try to get the dummy starter Soap server in Visual Studio talking to the soap client in Delphi, without any effort at all. But I can not figure out the simplest things.

Answer 1

I ran into the The handle is in the wrong state for the requested operation issue in November 2018 using Delphi Tokyo 10.2.3, then looked at the code patch in the pastebin link under Arjen's answer.

That code is very old and the test code no longer works (SOAP service unavailable). Also, it is unclear from Bruneau's code what he patched exactly.

Comparing that source and the one from my Delphi version it seems that these are the (two) required modifications in the HandleWinInetError procedure ('PATCH HERE'):

function THTTPReqResp.HandleWinInetError(LastError: DWord; 
                                         Request: HINTERNET;
                                         RaiseError: Boolean): DWord;

  function CallInternetErrorDlg: DWord;
  var
    P: Pointer;
  begin
    Result := InternetErrorDlg(GetDesktopWindow(), Request, LastError,
                               FLAGS_ERROR_UI_FILTER_FOR_ERRORS or
                               FLAGS_ERROR_UI_FLAGS_CHANGE_OPTIONS or
                               FLAGS_ERROR_UI_FLAGS_GENERATE_DATA, P);

    { After selecting client certificate send request again,
      Note: InternetErrorDlg always returns ERROR_SUCCESS when called with
            ERROR_INTERNET_CLIENT_AUTH_CERT_NEEDED }
    if LastError = ERROR_INTERNET_CLIENT_AUTH_CERT_NEEDED then
      Result := ERROR_INTERNET_FORCE_RETRY;
  end;

const
  { Missing from our WinInet currently }
  INTERNET_OPTION_CLIENT_CERT_CONTEXT = 84;

var
  Flags, FlagsLen, DWCert, DWCertLen: DWord;
  ClientCertInfo: IClientCertInfo;
  CertSerialNum: string;
{$IFDEF CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_SUPPORT}
  hStore: HCERTSTORE;
  CertContext: PCERT_CONTEXT;
{$ENDIF}
begin
  { Dispatch to custom handler, if there's one }
  if Assigned(FOnWinInetError) then
    Result := FOnWinInetError(LastError, Request)
  else
  begin
    Result := ERROR_INTERNET_FORCE_RETRY;
    { Handle INVALID_CA discreetly }
    if (LastError = ERROR_INTERNET_INVALID_CA) and (soIgnoreInvalidCerts in InvokeOptions) then
    begin
      FlagsLen := SizeOf(Flags);
      InternetQueryOption(Request, INTERNET_OPTION_SECURITY_FLAGS, Pointer(@Flags), FlagsLen);
      Flags := Flags or SECURITY_FLAG_IGNORE_UNKNOWN_CA;
      InternetSetOption(Request, INTERNET_OPTION_SECURITY_FLAGS, Pointer(@Flags), FlagsLen);
    end
    else if (LastError = ERROR_INTERNET_SEC_CERT_REV_FAILED) and (soIgnoreInvalidCerts in InvokeOptions) then
    begin
      FlagsLen := SizeOf(Flags);
      InternetQueryOption(Request, INTERNET_OPTION_SECURITY_FLAGS, Pointer(@Flags), FlagsLen);
      Flags := Flags or SECURITY_FLAG_IGNORE_REVOCATION;
      InternetSetOption(Request, INTERNET_OPTION_SECURITY_FLAGS, Pointer(@Flags), FlagsLen);
    end
{$IFDEF CLIENT_CERTIFICATE_SUPPORT}
    else if (LastError = ERROR_INTERNET_CLIENT_AUTH_CERT_NEEDED) and
             Supports(Self, IClientCertInfo, ClientCertInfo) and
             (ClientCertInfo.GetCertSerialNumber <> '') then
    begin
      CertSerialNum := ClientCertInfo.GetCertSerialNumber();
      hStore := ClientCertInfo.GetCertStore();
      if hStore = nil then
      begin
        hStore := CertOpenSystemStore(0, PChar('MY'));
        ClientCertInfo.SetCertStore(hStore);
      end;
      CertContext := FindCertWithSerialNumber(hStore, CertSerialNum);
      if CertContext <> nil then
      begin
        ClientCertInfo.SetCertContext(CertContext);
        InternetSetOption(Request, INTERNET_OPTION_CLIENT_CERT_CONTEXT,
                          CertContext, SizeOf(CERT_CONTEXT));
      end
      else
      begin
        if RaiseError then RaiseCheck(LastError);  // PATCH HERE
        Result := CallInternetErrorDlg;
      end;
    end
{$ENDIF}
    else if (LastError = ERROR_INTERNET_CLIENT_AUTH_CERT_NEEDED) and (soPickFirstClientCertificate in InvokeOptions) then
    begin
      { This instructs WinInet to pick the first (a random?) client cerficate }
      DWCertLen := SizeOf(DWCert);
      DWCert := 0;
      InternetSetOption(Request, INTERNET_OPTION_SECURITY_SELECT_CLIENT_CERT,
                        Pointer(@DWCert), DWCertLen);
    end
    else
    begin
      if RaiseError then RaiseCheck(LastError);  // PATCH HERE
      Result := CallInternetErrorDlg;
    end;
  end;
end;

Note that the RaiseError procedure parameter was not even used before this patch ;-)

Here is some test code using the SOAP service from NOAA's National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) SOAP Web Service:

Uses SOAP.SOAPHTTPTrans;

const Request2 =
'<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:ndf="http://graphical.weather.gov/xml/DWMLgen/wsdl/ndfdXML.wsdl">' +
'   <soapenv:Header/>' +
'   <soapenv:Body>' +
'      <ndf:NDFDgenByDay soapenv:encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/">' +
'         <latitude xsi:type="xsd:decimal">38.9936</latitude>' +
'         <longitude xsi:type="xsd:decimal">-77.0224</longitude>' +
'         <startDate xsi:type="xsd:date">%tomorrow%</startDate>' +
'         <numDays xsi:type="xsd:integer">5</numDays>' +
'         <Unit xsi:type="dwml:unitType" xmlns:dwml="http://graphical.weather.gov/xml/DWMLgen/schema/DWML.xsd">e</Unit>' +
'         <format xsi:type="dwml:formatType" xmlns:dwml="http://graphical.weather.gov/xml/DWMLgen/schema/DWML.xsd">12 hourly</format>' +
'      </ndf:NDFDgenByDay>' +
'   </soapenv:Body>' +
'</soapenv:Envelope>';

const URL2= 'https://graphical.weather.gov:443/xml/SOAP_server/ndfdXMLserver.php';

procedure TFrmHandleWinINetError.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
  RR: THTTPReqResp;
  Response: TMemoryStream;
  U8: UTF8String;
begin
  RR := THTTPReqResp.Create(nil);
  try
    try
      RR.URL := URL2;
      RR.UseUTF8InHeader := True;
      RR.SoapAction := 'NDFDgenByDay';
      Response := TMemoryStream.Create;
      RR.Execute(Request2, Response);
      SetLength(U8, Response.Size);
      Response.Position := 0;
      Response.Read(U8[1], Length(U8));
      ShowMessage(String(U8));
      except
        on E:Exception do ShowMessage('ERROR CAUGHT: ' + e.message);
      end;
    finally
      Response.Free;
      RR.Free;
    end;
  end;
end;  

Without the patch errors in the tail end of the URL are caught, but errors in the domain name just trigger an empty error message.
With the patch those are also caught.

I have a reported the issue in the RAD Studio Quality Portal under number RSP-21862

Use at your own risk and please report any additional findings.

---

Addition: The issue was fixed in Dec 2018 in Delphi 10.3 Rio and the Quality Portal issue was closed with the following remark:

In RAD Studio 10.3 the implementation of THTTPReqResp was changed and replaced with THTTPClient. So, this issue no longer applies.

I have not verified this.

Answer 2

At one time there was a discussion about the error in a conversation now long since deleted from Embarcadero forums, by Bruneau Babet, an embarcadero staffer.

Bruno said:

Hello,

I've posted a patched version of SOAPHTTPTrans.pas that contains a fix for this issue here:

[forum link redacted, it didn't work anymore anyways, the post is gone]

You may still override the event as described in the C++Builder section referred; or, much simpler, at least for Delphi users, simply add the updated SOAPHTTPTrans.pas to your app's project. Let us know if that does not work for you.

Cheers,

Bruneau

You can get the repair and the notes about it in its original forum formatting from the following pastebin link and on bitbucket so you don't have to extract the file from the surrounding text.

Warren Update 2016: I have been informed by someone who tried to use the fix on Delphi XE that this fix does NOT work for them in Delphi XE. Any further updates to the code in bitbucket that resolve the remaining bugs would be appreciated.