After some digging here, I took the advice in this thread: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/371961/how-to-unit-test-c-web-service-with-visual-studio-2008

I've created a separate class and my web service class is just a wrapper for that one. The problem is that when I try to create a unit test project in VS2008, it insists on creating a unit test that acts like I'm testing the web service calls instead of the class I specified. I can't get to the class I'm trying to test.

I have a web service "subscription_api.asmx". The code behind is "subscription_api.cs" which contains the web method wrapper calls to the real code at "subscription.cs".

I would expect to be able to do the following:

[TestMethod()]
        public void GetSystemStatusTest()
        {
            subscription sub = new subscription();
            XmlNode node = sub.GetSystemStatusTest();
            Assert.IsNotNull(node);
        }

But instead I get this mess which is autogenerated from VS'08:

/// <summary>
        ///A test for GetSystemStatus
        ///</summary>
        // TODO: Ensure that the UrlToTest attribute specifies a URL to an ASP.NET page (for example,
        // http://.../Default.aspx). This is necessary for the unit test to be executed on the web server,
        // whether you are testing a page, web service, or a WCF service.
        [TestMethod()]
        [HostType("ASP.NET")]
        [AspNetDevelopmentServerHost("C:\\CVSROOT\\rnr\\pro\\product\\wms\\ss\\subscription_api", "/subscription_api")]
        [UrlToTest("http://localhost/subscription_api")]
        public void GetSystemStatusTest()
        {
            subscription_Accessor target = new subscription_Accessor(); // TODO: Initialize to an appropriate value
            XmlNode expected = null; // TODO: Initialize to an appropriate value
            XmlNode actual;
            actual = target.GetSystemStatus();
            Assert.AreEqual(expected, actual);
            Assert.Inconclusive("Verify the correctness of this test method.");
        }

Additionally, there is a "subscription_api.accessor" in the Test References folder.

When I try this:

[TestMethod()]
public void GetSystemStatusTest2()
{
    subscription_Accessor sub = new subscription_Accessor();
    XmlNode node = sub.GetSystemStatus();
    Assert.IsNotNull(node);
}

I get an error:

Test method subscription_api.Test.subscriptionTest.GetSystemStatusTest2 threw exception:  System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'subscription_Accessor' threw an exception. --->  System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.

I'm really new to unit testing and feel lost. How can I create a unit test just for my subscription class in "subscription.cs" without testing the web service? Am I limited to testing within the same project (I hope not)? Do I have to put the target class in its own project outside of the web service project?