In this article, i will examine how to create and consume a WCF service. WCF is next-generation programming platform and runtime system for building, configuring and deploying service-oriented applications. For more details please see here.
Creating a WCF service
I will create a stock service to demonstrate WCF service. To create a WCF service please follow these steps.
- Launch a visual studio 2008
- Click on File �> new -> project then select WCF service application.
- It will create a WCF service application template.
I will delete the default contract and then create a IStock contract as shown below.
[ServiceContract]
public interface IStock
{
[OperationContract]
Stock GetStock(string Symbol);
}
The above contract has one method that returns stock object for a given symbol. Here is our Stock class that has Symbol, Date, Company and Close properties.
[DataContract]
public class Stock
{
[DataMember]
public string Symbol { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public DateTime Date { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string Company { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public decimal Close { get; set; }
}
Next, i will delete the default service and create a Stock service that will implement the Istock contract as shown below.
public class Stocks : IStock
{
#region IStock Members
public Stock GetStock(string Symbol)
{
Stock st = null;
switch (Symbol.ToUpper())
{
case "GOOG":
st = new Stock { Symbol = Symbol, Date = DateTime.Now, Company = "Google Inc.", Close = 495 };
break;
case "MSFT":
st = new Stock { Symbol = Symbol, Date = DateTime.Now, Company = "Microsoft Corporation", Close = 25 };
break;
case "YHOO":
st = new Stock { Symbol = Symbol, Date = DateTime.Now, Company = "Yahoo! Inc.", Close = 17 };
break;
case "AMZN":
st = new Stock { Symbol = Symbol, Date = DateTime.Now, Company = "Amazon.com, Inc.", Close = 92 };
break;
}
return st;
}
#endregion
}
In above service, I implemented IStock contract that has a GetStock method which returns stock object for a given Symbol.
Now, I will have the following endpoints in my web.config.
<service behaviorConfiguration="WcfSample.Service1Behavior" name="WcfSample.Stocks">
<endpoint address="" binding="wsHttpBinding" contract="WcfSample.IStock">
<identity>
<dns value="localhost"/>
</identity>
</endpoint>
<endpoint address="mex" binding="mexHttpBinding" contract="IMetadataExchange"/>
</service>
In above configuration, we have address="" which is localhost, binding="wsHttpBinding" and contract="WcfSample.IStock"
Now i will compile the service and build a client to consume the service.
Creating a client to consume service
To create a client i will create a web application please follow these steps.
- Right Click on Solution �> Add �> new project then select ASP.net web application.
- It will create a web application template.
- Now, i will add the service reference. To add service reference, select client application, then add and service reference. Since our client is in a same solution, i will click discover and service in solution as shown below.
- In default.aspx, i will create a simple UI, a textbox to enter the stock symbol and a button to call the service to get stock information. Here is our code behind.
ServiceReference2.StockClient sc = new ServiceReference2.StockClient();
ServiceReference2.Stock st = sc.GetStock(TextBox1.Text.Trim());
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.AppendFormat("<B>Company:</B> {0}<br />", st.Company);
sb.AppendFormat("<B>Date: </B>{0}<br />", st.Date);
sb.AppendFormat("<B>Close: </B>{0}<br />", st.Close);
sb.AppendFormat("<B>Symbol: </B>{0}<br />", st.Symbol);
Label1.Text = sb.ToString();
- Here are few screenshots from our final application.
Summary
In this article, we examined how to create and consume a WCF service. As you can see, creating and consuming WCF service with Visual studio 2008 is a pretty simple. To download complete source code please visit to http://www.codeproject.com/KB/WCF/your_first_WCF_service.aspx
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