I am writing a web service that accepts and returns an XML message - I know
the issues behind this but want to be able to process the messages
generically using XSD / XSLT.

My problem occurs with the way the .NET framework appears to handle the
XmlNode, in particular the generation of the WSDL.  The details follow:

I define the code behind method as

[WebMethod]
public XmlNode Operation(xmlNode request)

However when I look at the WSDL generated I see the following for the input
XML Message:

<element name="Operation">
 <complexType>
   <sequence>
     <element minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" name="request">
       <complexType mixed="true">
         <sequence>
           <any />
         </sequence>
       </complexType>
     </element>
   </sequence>
</element>

Which results in the XML in the SOAP:Body looking like like this when called
using the reference.cs generated interface:
<Operation xmlns="..">
 <request>
     ....  I can place the XML I require here
 </request>
</Operation>

So the .NET framework - or is it the WSDL - has inserted an extra node
<request>  in the XML that I do not require.

Does anyone know how to define this so that THE COMPLETE XML DOCUMENT in the
SOAP:Body is handled by the XmlNode defined in the code behind without it
inserting its own nodes?

TFAH

Paul