Out of the Box Services

Service File Type	Description
*.wsdl.aspx (search.wsdl.aspx)	File that generates the WSDL (Web Services Description Language) in SharePoint
*.disco.aspx (seach.disco.aspx)	File that provides the discovery implementation
*.asmx (search.asmx)	Web services endpoint, most of which contain a page directive referencing the SharePoint assembly and type containing the actual implementation for the service

Out of the Box Services

There are a number of web services implemented OOTB (out of the box) in SharePoint that will address most of the common and basic tasks, from administrative tasks to search and working with list data, and much more. Below is a listing of the SharePoint web services with an overview of the functionality exposed for your reference. A simple expanded list like this helps me in working with the web services giving me a quick view of the overall services and methods available.

Service	Administration
(_vti_adm/Admin.asmx)	Administrative methods for creating deleting sites and retrieving languages used in the deployment CreateSite DeleteSite GetLanguage RefreshConfigCache
Alerts (Alerts.asmx)	Methods for working with SharePoint list item alerts DeleteAlerts GetAlerts
Authentication (Authentication.asmx)	Client proxy that provides user authentication for sites that use forms-based authentication Login (Used to authenticate) Mode (Returns the authentication mode of the current site)
Copy (Copy.asmx)	Methods to copy files between or within sites CopyIntoItems (Copy document as byte array to location on server) CopyIntoItemsLocal (Copy document from one location on the same server to another) GetItem (Creates a byte array of a document that can be passed to theCopyIntoItems method)
Document Workspace (Dws.asmx)	Methods for managing Document Workspace sites and data CanCreateDwsUrl CreateDws CreateFolder FindDwsDoc GetDwsData GetDwsMetaData RemoveDwsUser RenameDws UpdateDwsData
Forms (Forms.asmx)	Methods for returning forms that are used in the user interface when working with the contents of a list GetForm GetFormCollection
Imaging (Imaging.asmx)	Methods to create and manager picture libraries CheckSubwebAndList CreateNewFolder Delete Download Edit GetItemsByIds GetItemsXMLData GetListItems ListPictureLibrary Rename Upload
List Data Retrieval (DspSts.asmx)	Perform queries against sites and list in SharePoint Query (Performs queries against SharePoint lists and sites)
Lists (Lists.asmx)	Methods for working with Lists and List Data AddAttachment AddDiscussionBoardItem AddList AddListFromFeature ApplyContentTypeToList DeleteAttachment DeleteContentType DeleteContentTypeXmlDocument DeleteList GetAttachmentCollection GetList GetListAndView GetListCollection GetListContentType GetListContentTypes GetListItemChanges GetListItemChangesSinceToken GetListItems GetVersionCollection UndoCheckout UpdateContentType UpdateContentTypesXmlDocument UpdateContentTypeXmlDocument UpdateList UpdateListItems
Meetings(Meetings.asmx)	Create and manage Meeting Workspace Sites AddMeeting AddMeetingFromICal CreateWorkspace DeleteWorkspace GetMeetingInformation GetMeetingWorkspaces RemoveMeeting RestoreMeeting SetAttendeeResponse SetWorkspaceTitle UpdateMeeting UpdateMeetingFromICal
People(People.asmx)	Resolve and find Principals ResolvePrincipals
Permissions (Permissions.asmx)	Methods for working with permissions for a site or list AddPermission AddPermissionCollection GetPermissionCollection RemovePermission RemovePermissionCollection UpdatePermission
Directory Management(sharepointemailws.asmx)	Methods for managing Active Directory e-mail distribution groups and their memberships ChangeContactsMembershipInDistributionGroup ChangeUsersmembershipInDistributionGroup CreateContact CreateDistributionGroup DeleteContact DeleteDistributionGroup GetJobStatus ModifyContact ModifyDistributionGroup RenameDistributionGroup
Site Data (SiteData.asmx)	Methods that return metadata or list data from sites or lists EnumerateFolder GetAttachments GetChanges GetContent GetList GetListCollection GetListItems GetSite GetSiteAndWeb GetSiteUrl GetURLSegments GetWeb
Sites(Sites.asmx)	Methods for returning information about the collection or site template ExportWeb GetSiteTemplates GetUpdatedFormDigest ImportWeb
Search(spsearch.asmx)	Methods for searching via search services Query QueryEx Registration Status
Users & Groups(usergroup.asmx)	Methods for working with users role definitions and groups AddGroup AddGroupToRole AddRole AddRoleDef AddUserCollectionToGroup AddUserCollectionToRole AddUserToGroup AddUserToRole GetAllUserCollectionFromWeb GetGroupCollection GetList GetListAndView GetListCollection GetGroupCollectionFromRole GetGroupCollectionFromSite GetGroupCollectionFromUser GetGroupCollectionFromWeb GetGroupInfo GetRoleCollection GetRoleCollectionFromGroup GetRoleCollectionFromUser GetRoleCollectionFromWeb GetRoleInfo GetRolesAndPermissionsForCurrentUser GetRolesAndPermissionsForSite GetUserCollection GetUserCollectionFromGroup GetUserCollectionFromRole GetUserCollectionFromSite GetUserCollectionFromWeb GetUserInfo GetUserLoginFromEmail RemoveGroup RemoveGroupFromRole RemoveRole RemoveUserCollectionFromGroup RemoveUserCollectionFromRole RemoveUserCollectionFromSite RemoveUserFromGroup RemoveUserFromRole RemoveUserFromSite RemoveUserFromWeb UpdateGroupInfo UpdateRoleDefInfo UpdateRoleInfo UpdateUserInfo
Versions (Versions.asmx)	Methods for working with file versions DeleteAllVersions DeleteVersion GetVersions RestoreVersion
Views(Views.asmx)	Methods for working with list views AddView DeleteView GetViewCollection GetViewHtml UpdateView UpdateViewHtml UpdateViewHtml2
Web Part Pages(WebPartPages.asmx)	Methods for working with Web Part Pages AddWebPart AddWebPartToZone AssociateWorkflowMarkup ConvertWebPartFormat DeleteWebPart ExecuteProxyUpdates FetchLegalWorkflowActions GetAssemblyMetaData GetBindingResourceData GetCustomControlList GetDataFromDataSourceControl GetFormCapabilityFromDataSourceControl GetSafeAssemblyInfo GetWebPart GetWebPart2 GetWebPartCrossPageCompatibility GetWebPartPage GetWebPartPageConnectionInfo GetWebPartPageDocument GetWebPartProperties GetWebPartProperties2 RemoveWorkflowAssociation RenderWebPartForEdit SaveWebPart SaveWebPart2 ValidateWorkflowMarkupAndCreateSupportObjects
Webs(Webs.asmx)	Methods for working with sites and subsites CreateContentType CustomizeCss DeleteContentType GetActivatedFeatures GetAllSubWebCollection GetColumns GetContentType GetContentTypes GetCustomizedPageStatus GetListTemplates GetWeb GetWebCollection RemoveContentTypeXmlDocument RevertAllFileContentStreams RevertCss RevertFileContentStream UpdateColumns UpdateContentType UpdateContentTypeXmlDocument WebUrlFromPageUrl
MOSS Search (Search.asmx)	Methods for searching via MOSS (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server) Search services, which also includes a method to retrieve the managed search properties GetSearchMetadata (Search managed properties) Query QueryEx Registration Status