Introduction to Endpoint in WCF: Part 2

Endpoints

Every service has a unique address and this unique address has the three attributes Address, Binding and Contract. In other words we can say an endpoint is a combination of address, binding and contract. If you are unfamiliar with address, binding and contract then please read my previous article introduction to WCF: Part 1. In this article I will give you a short note about these three attributes of endpoints.

• Address: contains information about where a service can be found.
  
  
• Binding: contains information about how a client can communicate with a service.
  
  
• Contract: It's an agreement between service and client.
  
  There is one more property in an endpoint, behavior. Behavior is not an attribute of an endpoint.
  
  
• Behavior: A set of behaviors that specify local implementation details of the endpoint.

Let me describe using an example. I am using my previous demo project.

In ImyService.cs

namespace myFirstApp
{
    [ServiceContract]
    public interface IMyService
    {
        [OperationContract]
        int AddTwoNo(int intFirstNo, int intSecondNo);
    }
}

In MyService.svc.cs  

namespace myFirstApp
{
    public class MyService : IMyService
    {
        public int AddTwoNo(int intFirstNo, int intSecondNo){return intFirstNo + intSecondNo;}

    }
}

Endpoint using web.config

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
  <appSettings>
    <add key="aspnet:UseTaskFriendlySynchronizationContext" value="true" />
  </appSettings>
  <system.web>
    <compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.5" />
    <httpRuntime targetFramework="4.5"/>
  </system.web>
  <system.serviceModel>
    <services>
      <service name="myFirstApp.MyService" behaviorConfiguration="serviceBehaviour">
    <!--endpoint start here-->
        <endpoint address="addTwo" binding="basicHttpBinding" contract="myFirstApp.ImyService"></endpoint>
    <!--endpoint end here-->
      <host>
        <baseAddresses>
          <add baseAddress="http://localhost:36246/"/>
        </baseAddresses>
      </host>
      </service>
    </services>
    <behaviors>
      <serviceBehaviors>
        <behavior name="serviceBehaviour">
          <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true" httpsGetEnabled="true"/>
          <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="false"/>
        </behavior>
      </serviceBehaviors>
    </behaviors>
    <protocolMapping>
        <add binding="basicHttpsBinding" scheme="https" />
    </protocolMapping>
    <serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true" multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true" />
  </system.serviceModel>
  <system.webServer>
    <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true"/>
    <directoryBrowse enabled="true"/>
  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Let's update my service reference.



In default.aspx

<table>
        <tr><td>First No</td><td><asp:TextBox ID="txtFirst" runat="server"></asp:TextBox></td></tr>
        <tr><td>Second No</td><td><asp:TextBox ID="txtSec" runat="server"></asp:TextBox></td></tr>
        <tr><td colspan="2"><asp:Button ID="btnAdd" runat="server" Text="Add" OnClick="btnAdd_Click" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr><td colspan="2"><asp:Label ID="lblResult" runat="server"></asp:Label></td></tr>
    </table>

In default.aspx.cs

using System;

namespace WCFClientApp
{
    public partial class _default : System.Web.UI.Page
    {
        protected void btnAdd_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            int intFirstNo = 0, intSecNo = 0, intResult = 0;
            intFirstNo = Convert.ToInt16(txtFirst.Text);
            intSecNo = Convert.ToInt16(txtSec.Text);
            WCFReference.MyServiceClient client = new WCFReference.MyServiceClient();
            intResult = client.AddTwoNo(intFirstNo, intSecNo);
            lblResult.Text = "Result is :"+intResult;
            client.Close();
        }
    }
}

Run the application and get the expected results.

I hope this article is helpful for you.

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