Skip to main content

WCF Step by Step Tutorial

Basics of WCF

Definition of WCF

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is a framework for building service-oriented applications. Using WCF we can build secure, reliable, transacted solutions that integrate across platforms.

WCF is a unified framework which provides :

NET Remoting
Distributed Transactions
Message Queues and
Web Services into a single service-oriented programming model for distributed computing.

WCF interoperate between WCF-based applications and any other processes that communicate via SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) messages.

Features of WCF

Service Orientation
Interoperability
Multiple Message Patterns
Service Metadata
Data Contracts
Security
Multiple Transports and Encodings
Reliable and Queued Messages
Durable Messages
Transactions
AJAX and REST Support
Extensibility

To know more about features of WCF see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms733103.aspx

Terms of WCF

A WCF service is exposed to the outside world as a collection of endpoints.

1. Endpoint: Endpoint is a construct at which messages are sent or received (or both). Endpoint comprises of ABC's

What are ABC's of WCF ?

A. Address - Address is a location that defines where messages can be sent

B. Binding - Binding is a specification of the communication mechanism (a binding) that described how messages should be sent

C. Contract - Contract is a definition for a set of messages that can be sent or received (or both) at that location (a service contract) that describes what message can be sent.

2. Service: A construct that exposes one or more endpoints, with each endpoint exposing one or more service operations.

3. Contracts: A contract is a agreement between two or more parties for common understanding and it is a is a platform-neutral and standard way of describing what the service does. In WCF, all services expose contracts.

Types of Contracts

Operation Contract: An operation contract defines the parameters and return type of an operation.

[OperationContract]
double Add(double i, double j);

Service Contract: Ties together multiple related operations contracts into a single functional unit.

[ServiceContract] //System.ServiceModel
public interface IMath
{
[OperationContract]
double Add(double i, double j);
[OperationContract]
double Sub(double i, double j);
[OperationContract]
Complex AddComplexNo(Complex i, Complex j);
[OperationContract]
Complex SubComplexNo(Complex i, Complex j);
}

Data Contract: The descriptions in metadata of the data types that a service uses.

// Use a data contract
[DataContract] //using System.Runtime.Serialization
public class Complex
{
private int real;
private int imaginary;

[DataMember]
public int Real { get; set; }

[DataMember]
public int Imaginary { get; set; }
}

WCF Step by Step Tutorial

This is the Basic WCF Tutorial 'wcfMathSerLib' will be created in a step by step approach. This 'wcfMathSerLib' will be tested by 'ConsoleMathClient' and with 'WCF Test Client'

Steps for creating wcfMathSerLib

Open Visual Studio 2010 and File->NewProject
select WCF in 'Recent Templates'
select 'WCF Service Library'
Give Name as wcfMathServiceLibrary
Click OK
Delete IService1.cs and Service1.cs
Add IMath.cs and MathService.cs and add the code listed below

IMath.cs

using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.ServiceModel;

namespace WcfMathServLib
{
[ServiceContract] //System.ServiceModel
public interface IMath
{
[OperationContract]
double Add(double i, double j);
[OperationContract]
double Sub(double i, double j);
[OperationContract]
Complex AddComplexNo(Complex i, Complex j);
[OperationContract]
Complex SubComplexNo(Complex i, Complex j);
}
// Use a data contract
[DataContract] //using System.Runtime.Serialization
public class Complex
{
    private int real;
    private int imaginary;

    [DataMember]
    public int Real { get; set; }

    [DataMember]
    public int Imaginary { get; set; }
}&amp;lt;/code&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/pre&amp;gt;

}

MathService.cs

namespace WcfMathServLib
{
  public class MathService : IMath
  {
        public double Add(double i, double j)
        {
            return (i + j);
        }

        public double Sub(double i, double j)
        {
            return (i - j);
        }

        public Complex AddComplexNo(Complex i, Complex j)
        {
            Complex result = new Complex();
            result.Real = i.Real + j.Real;
            result.Imaginary = i.Imaginary + j.Imaginary;
            return result;
        }

        public Complex SubComplexNo(Complex i, Complex j)
        {
            Complex result = new Complex();
            result.Real = i.Real - j.Real;
            result.Imaginary = i.Imaginary - j.Imaginary;
            return result;
        }
  }
}

Modify the App.config file as shown

App.config

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>

<system.web>
<compilation debug="true" />
</system.web>

<system.sericeModel>
<services>
<service name="WcfMathServLib.MathService">
  <host>
      <baseAddresses>
        <add baseAddress = "http://localhost:8732/Design\_Time\_Addresses/WcfMathServLib/MathService/" />
      </baseAddresses>
    </host>

    <!-- Service Endpoints -->
    <endpoint address ="" binding="wsHttpBinding" contract="WcfMathServLib.IMath">
      <identity>
        <dns value="localhost"/>
      </identity>
    </endpoint>

    <!-- Metadata Endpoints -->
    <endpoint address="mex" binding="mexHttpBinding" contract="IMetadataExchange"/>
  </service>
</services>
<behaviors>

  <serviceBehaviors>
    <behavior>
       <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="True"/>
      <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="False" />
    </behavior>
  </serviceBehaviors>
</behaviors>
</system.sericeModel>

</configuration>

Result Using WCF Test Client

Run the WcfMathServLib project you will get the ‘WCF Test Client’
Select each method say ‘AddComplexNo’ Give the values in ‘Request’
Click on Invoke button
See the results in “Response”

Steps for creating ConsoleMathClient

Open Visual Studio 2010 and File->NewProject
select Visual C#->Windows in ‘Installed Templates’
select ‘Console Application’
Give Name as ConsoleMathClient
Click OK
Go to ‘Solution Explorer’ Right click on ConsoleMathClient -> Select ‘Add Service Reference’ the below dialog will be displayed
Click on Discover button
Give namespace as ‘MathServiceReference’ and click OK

The service reference will be added now modify the program.cs as shown below.

Program.cs

using System;
using ConsoleMathClient.MathServiceReference;

namespace ConsoleMathClient
{
  class Program
  {
    static void Main(string\[\] args)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(Press Enter to run the client....);
        Console.ReadLine();

        MathClient math = new MathClient();
        Console.WriteLine(Add of 3 and 2 = {0}, math.Add(3, 2));
        Console.WriteLine(Sub of 3 and 2 = {0}, math.Sub(3, 2));

        Complex no1 = new Complex();
        no1.Real = 3;
        no1.Imaginary = 3;

        Complex no2 = new Complex();
        no2.Real = 2;
        no2.Imaginary = 2;

        Complex result = new Complex();
        result = math.AddComplexNo(no1, no2);
        Console.WriteLine(Add of 3+3i and 2+2i = {0}+{1}i, result.Real, result.Imaginary);

        result = math.SubComplexNo(no1, no2);
        Console.WriteLine(Sub of 3+3i and 2+2i = {0}+{1}i, result.Real, result.Imaginary);

        Console.ReadLine();
    }
  }

}

Result

Compile and Run the project to see the Result

Basics of WCF
WCF Step by Step Tutorial
Steps for creating ConsoleMathClient