Arraylist of objects not deserializing correctly

[Tony Dougherty]

I'm having a heck of a time with two things that "should" be exactly the same.
At the very bottom of my code, you'll see a button.click event with two object arrays that call my webservice asking for a list of POs and a list of Orders. The list of Purchase orders works perfectly, I've used that elsewhere in my form/code. However, the Orders array does not. It contains the correct number of elements but the objects themselves are unknown {Object}. (Conversely, the elements in the PO array can be drilled down into to see the values in each PO instance). This results in the directcast line throwing up an InvalidCastException.
I have also ran it using an internet browser, looking at the asmx page on the server, and it runs perfectly. It displays the elements and all their values.
I'm pretty new to the webservice/xml/serializing stuff so please bear with me and dont use too many big words lol (or use big words but explain them carefully for me).
If you need any more explanation, please let me know. I'm at my wits end with this one.

Tony

Imports System.Web.Services
Imports System.Web.Services.Protocols
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports AccuUtils.Database.OracleConn


' To allow this Web Service to be called from script, using ASP.NET AJAX, uncomment the following line.
' <System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptService()> _
<System.Web.Services.WebService(Namespace:="http://har.local/")> _
<System.Web.Services.WebServiceBinding(ConformsTo:=WsiProfiles.BasicProfile1_1)> _
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlInclude(GetType(PO))> _
<System.Xml.Serialization.XmlInclude(GetType(Order))> _
<ToolboxItem(False)> _
Public Class HardecsWebUtils
    Inherits System.Web.Services.WebService


    <WebMethod(Description:="Gets a list of the vendors and their open purchase orders (arraylist of type PO)")> _
    Public Function GetVendorsAndTheirOpenPOs(ByVal sUserName As String) As ArrayList
        Dim strSQL As String = _
            "select " & _
                "po.id purc_order_id, v.id vendor_id, v.name vendor_name, po.har_receiver_user receiver_user, " & _
                "count(pol.line_no) as line_count, sum(pol.user_order_qty) as case_count " & _
            "from " & _
                "vendor v, purchase_order po, purc_order_line pol " & _
            "where " & _
                "po.id = pol.purc_order_id and " & _
                "po.vendor_id = v.id and " & _
                "po.status = 'R' and " & _
                "(po.har_receiver_user = '" & sUserName.ToUpper & "' or po.har_receiver_user is null) " & _
            "group by " & _
                "po.id, v.id, v.name, po.har_receiver_user " & _
            "order by " & _
                "v.name"
        Dim dsVendorPOs As DataSet = sqlConnection.ExecuteQuery("vendorpos", strSQL)


        Dim colPOs As New ArrayList


        For Each drVendorPO As DataRow In dsVendorPOs.Tables(0).Rows
            colPOs.Add(New PO(drVendorPO("vendor_id"), drVendorPO("vendor_name"), drVendorPO("purc_order_id"), _
                              drVendorPO("line_count"), drVendorPO("case_count"), drVendorPO("receiver_user")))
        Next


        Return colPOs
    End Function




    <WebMethod(Description:="Gets a list of the available orders to ship")> _
    Public Function GetListOfAvailableOrders(ByVal sUserID As String) As ArrayList


        Dim strSQL As String = _
            "select " & _
                "unique(co.id) order_id, c.name customer_name, c.id customer_id, co.desired_ship_date, co.har_shipping_user " & _
            "from " & _
                "customer_order co, customer c " & _
            "where " & _
                "co.customer_id = c.id and " & _
                "(co.har_shipping_user = '" & sUserID.ToUpper & "' or co.har_shipping_user is null) and " & _
                "co.status = 'R' " & _
            "order by " & _
                "co.id"
        Dim dsOrders As DataSet = sqlConnection.ExecuteQuery("orders", strSQL)


        Dim colReturn As New ArrayList


        ' Add each item to the arraylist
        For Each drOrder As DataRow In dsOrders.Tables(0).Rows


            colReturn.Add(New Order(drOrder("order_id"), drOrder("customer_id"), drOrder("customer_name"), _
                                    "", 0, 0, "", "", drOrder("desired_ship_date"), _
                                    drOrder("har_shipping_user")))
        Next


        Return colReturn
    End Function


End Class




Public Class Order


    Public ID As String
    Public CustomerID As String
    Public CustomerName As String
    Public ShipMethod As String
    Public LineItemCount As Integer
    Public TotalWeight As Double
    Public ShipToAddr As String
    Public SoldToAddr As String
    Public ShipDate As Date
    Public ShippingUser As String


    Public Sub New()


    End Sub


    Public Sub New(ByVal sID As String, ByVal sCustomerID As String, ByVal sCustomerName As String, _
                    ByVal sShipMethod As String, ByVal iLineItemCount As Integer, ByVal dTotalWeight As Double, _
                    ByVal sShipToAddr As String, ByVal sSoldToAddr As String, ByVal dShipDate As Date, ByVal sShippingUser As String)
        ID = sID
        CustomerID = sCustomerID
        CustomerName = sCustomerName
        ShipMethod = sShipMethod
        LineItemCount = iLineItemCount
        TotalWeight = dTotalWeight
        ShipToAddr = sShipToAddr
        SoldToAddr = sSoldToAddr
        ShipDate = dShipDate
        ShippingUser = sShippingUser
    End Sub


End Class


Public Class PO


    Public VendorID As String
    Public VendorName As String
    Public PONum As String
    Public LineCount As Integer
    Public CaseCount As Integer
    Public ReceivingUser As String


    Public Sub New()


    End Sub


    Public Sub New(ByVal sVendorID As String, ByVal sVendorName As String, ByVal sPONum As String, ByVal iLineCount As Integer, ByVal iCaseCount As Integer, ByVal sReceivingUserID As String)
        VendorID = sVendorID
        VendorName = sVendorName
        PONum = sPONum
        LineCount = iLineCount
        CaseCount = iCaseCount
        ReceivingUser = sReceivingUserID
    End Sub


End Class










    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim Orders() As Object = HarWebUtils.GetListOfAvailableOrders("tdougher")
        Dim POs() As Object = HarWebUtils.GetVendorsAndTheirOpenPOs("tdougher")


        ' Loop through each of the available orders
        For intOrderCount As Integer = 0 To Orders.Count - 1
            Dim Order As WebUtils.Order = DirectCast(Orders(intOrderCount), WebUtils.Order)
            MsgBox(Order.ID & " - " & Order.CustomerName)
        Next
    End Sub