Setting Up Your First WCF Service

Creating your first Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service can seem daunting, but with a step-by-step approach, you can have your service up and running in no time! Follow along as we guide you through the process of setting up and hosting a WCF service using Visual Studio.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Visual Studio Project

Open Visual Studio: Launch Visual Studio and create a new project.
Select Project Type:
- In the "Create a new project" dialog, search for WCF and select WCF Service Application.
- Click Next.
Configure Your Project:
- Enter a project name (e.g., MyFirstWCFService).
- Choose a location to save your project.
- Click Create.
Create the Default Service:
- Visual Studio will create a default service and a service interface for you, generally named IService1.cs and Service1.svc.
- Open IService1.cs. You should see a method stub like this:
```
[ServiceContract]
public interface IService1
{
    [OperationContract]
    string GetData(int value);
}
```

Step 2: Implementing Your Service

Now that you have a service contract, the next step is to implement it in Service1.svc.cs.

Open the Service Implementation:
- Find the Service1.svc.cs file in the Solution Explorer and open it.
Implement the Method:
- You will need to implement the GetData method that you defined in IService1.cs.
Here’s an example implementation:
```
public class Service1 : IService1
{
    public string GetData(int value)
    {
        return $"You entered: {value}";
    }
}
```
Explanation of the Code:
- The GetData method takes an integer input and returns a string. This is a simple service that echoes back the number inputted by the user.

Step 3: Configuring the WCF Service

WCF services require certain configurations defined in the Web.config file for them to be hosted correctly.

Open Web.config:
- Find and open the Web.config file in your project.

Check the <system.serviceModel> Section:

Ensure the service is properly defined. It should look something like this:

<system.serviceModel>
    <services>
        <service name="MyFirstWCFService.Service1">
            <endpoint address="" binding="wsHttpBinding" contract="MyFirstWCFService.IService1" />
            <host>
                <baseAddresses>
                    <add baseAddress="http://localhost:8733/Design_Time_Addresses/MyFirstWCFService/Service1/" />
                </baseAddresses>
            </host>
        </service>
    </services>
    <behaviors>
        <serviceBehaviors>
            <behavior>
                <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="True" />
                <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="False" />
            </behavior>
        </serviceBehaviors>
    </behaviors>
</system.serviceModel>

Explanation of the Configuration:
- The <services> section declares the service and its endpoint. The binding specifies the type of communication used (in this case, wsHttpBinding).
- The base address is where your service will be hosted.
- Enabling serviceMetadata allows you to access metadata about the service using a web browser.

Step 4: Testing Your WCF Service

Once your service is implemented and configured, it’s time to test it.

Run the Service:
- Press F5 or click on the start button to launch your WCF service in IIS Express.
- Visual Studio will open a browser window with the service’s metadata endpoint. Typically, it’s located at:
  http://localhost:8733/Design_Time_Addresses/MyFirstWCFService/Service1/
Access the Service:
- In the browser, you should see a list of service endpoints—this confirms that your service is running successfully.

Step 5: Creating a Client to Consume the WCF Service

Now that your WCF service is up and running, let’s create a client console application to consume the service.

Create a New Project:
- In Visual Studio, create a new Console App (.NET Framework) project in the same solution.
Add Service Reference:
- Right-click on the client project in Solution Explorer.
- Select Add > Service Reference.
- In the dialog that appears, enter the address of your WCF service:
  http://localhost:8733/Design_Time_Addresses/MyFirstWCFService/Service1/
- Click Go, and you should see your service listed.
- Choose a namespace (e.g., ServiceReference1) and click OK.

Consume the Service in your Console App:

Open the Program.cs file in your console application and modify it like this:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        ServiceReference1.Service1Client client = new ServiceReference1.Service1Client();
        Console.WriteLine("Enter a number:");
        int number = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
        string result = client.GetData(number);
        Console.WriteLine(result);
        client.Close();
    }
}

Run the Client:
- Press F5 to run the console application. Input a number when prompted, and you should see it echoed back to you from the WCF service!

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve successfully set up and hosted your first WCF service, and even created a client to consume it. This exercise showcases the basic workings of WCF and how to interact with it through service contracts, implementations, and configuration.

As you continue to work with WCF, consider exploring advanced topics such as security, error handling, and hosting your services in different environments such as Windows Services or Azure.

Feel free to experiment, and happy coding!

Dotnet - WCF & WSDL