How can I get rid of the “The target assembly contains no service types” for self WCF hosted projects - wcf

I have a solution with several WCF self hosted projects. Every time i run a uni test i message box with this message pops up.
Because the projects were not created as WCF projects, they don't have the WCF tab in properties page were, according to many posts, i should be able to fix it by disabling option Start WCF Service Host when debugging another project in the same solution
I am running on VS 2017.
Any pointers?

Found out.
The problem was that i had a WCF Library project in the solution that was created as a regular Library project.
I fixed by adding the followin XML tag to the library project:
<ProjectExtensions>
<VisualStudio>
<FlavorProperties GUID="{3D9AD99F-2412-4246-B90B-4EAA41C64699}">
<WcfProjectProperties>
<AutoStart>False</AutoStart>
</WcfProjectProperties>
</FlavorProperties>
</VisualStudio>
</ProjectExtensions>
To get the tag, case anyone wonder what is it, i created an WCF library project on a dummy solution, uncheck the Start WCF Service host when debugging another project in the same solution as show in the picture below, and grab the tag from the config file.

Related

How to turn a basic class library into a WCF Service Library

I was trying to copy the functionality of an existing WCF service library to use it as a template for a new WCF service library. Since I was going to cut and paste all the code that I needed, and I didn't want it to create the default service stubs, I didn't start it by using the built-in "WCF Service Library" project template. I just added a new blank project to my solution, using the "Empty Project" template.
I then created two new blank .cs code files to my project to hold the interface and class for my service, and copied/pasted the Interface and Class code from my original WCF service library project, and made the alterations that I needed to make.
The new project compiles fine, however...
1) If I go into the project properties, the "WCF Options" section does not appear, as it does in my original WCF service library.
2) With the original WCF service libary project, I could right-click on it and select Debug->Start New Instance, and it would automatically start it using WCF Service Host. With the new project, if I try that, it says, "A project with an Output Type of Class Library cannot be started directly".
How do I get Visual Studio (I'm using 2012 Professional) to see this project as a true WCF class library, short of starting over and using the "WCF Service Library" project template?
You are missing the ProjectExtensions section from your project file
This is from one of my VS2010 projects.
<ProjectExtensions>
<VisualStudio>
<FlavorProperties GUID="{3D9AD99F-2412-4246-B90B-4EAA41C64699}">
<WcfProjectProperties>
<AutoStart>True</AutoStart>
</WcfProjectProperties>
</FlavorProperties>
</VisualStudio>
</ProjectExtensions>
If I remove it, the WCF Options properties section goes away.
EDIT:
I did a comparison of an Empty project to a WCF Service Library, and found that you also need to add this to your project to get the WCF Options to appear in the project properties
<ProjectTypeGuids>{3D9AD99F-2412-4246-B90B-4EAA41C64699};{F184B08F-C81C-45F6-A57F-5ABD9991F28F}</ProjectTypeGuids>
There is another entry in WCF (and not in the Empty project)
<StartArguments>/client:"WcfTestClient.exe"</StartArguments>
which I'm assuming is needed when you do the
Debug->Start New Instance
There is other stuff that you will need however, such as a reference to System.ServiceModel.
To be honest, I think you'd be better off using the proper WCF Service Library template and cutting out stuff you don't want, rather than trying to figure out what you do need.

Error message from svcutil.exe - what does it mean?

I've had not a lot of luck creating a WCF service with Visual Studio. It's in IIS, and it I click 'browse' on the .svc file itself, it tells me I have created a service. So I assume it's all okay to a point.
Throughout my time I came across a recommendation to use a program called svcutil.exe. I used it on my service and got the following error. I don't know what it means, so hopefully someone can shed some light on the situation.
Here's the result:
Microsoft (R) Service Model Metadata Tool
[Microsoft (R) Windows (R) Communication Foundation, Version 3.0.4506.2152]
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Attempting to download metadata from 'http://localhost/EvalServiceSite/Eval.svc'
using WS-Metadata Exchange or DISCO.
Error: Cannot import wsdl:portType
Detail: An exception was thrown while running a WSDL import extension: System.Se
rviceModel.Description.DataContractSerializerMessageContractImporter
Error: Schema with target namespace 'http://tempuri.org/' could not be found.
XPath to Error Source: //wsdl:definitions[#targetNamespace='http://tempuri.org/'
]/wsdl:portType[#name='IEvalService']
Error: Cannot import wsdl:binding
Detail: There was an error importing a wsdl:portType that the wsdl:binding is de
pendent on.
XPath to wsdl:portType: //wsdl:definitions[#targetNamespace='http://tempuri.org/
']/wsdl:portType[#name='IEvalService']
XPath to Error Source: //wsdl:definitions[#targetNamespace='http://tempuri.org/'
]/wsdl:binding[#name='BasicHttpBinding_IEvalService']
Error: Cannot import wsdl:port
Detail: There was an error importing a wsdl:binding that the wsdl:port is depend
ent on.
XPath to wsdl:binding: //wsdl:definitions[#targetNamespace='http://tempuri.org/'
]/wsdl:binding[#name='BasicHttpBinding_IEvalService']
XPath to Error Source: //wsdl:definitions[#targetNamespace='http://tempuri.org/'
]/wsdl:service[#name='EvalService']/wsdl:port[#name='BasicHttpBinding_IEvalServi
ce']
Generating files...
Warning: No code was generated.
If you were trying to generate a client, this could be because the metadata docu
ments did not contain any valid contracts or services
or because all contracts/services were discovered to exist in /reference assembl
ies. Verify that you passed all the metadata documents to the tool.
Warning: If you would like to generate data contracts from schemas make sure to
use the /dataContractOnly option.
I think this previous Stack Overflow question may help with your current question but not necessarily your problem.
Error: Cannot import wsdl:port with svcutil
You've created your WCF service and you've browsed to it in IIS so you're happy that it is working. The purpose of SVCUtil.exe is to generate classes that you can use in an application to interact with the service with compile time information on the contract members and methods.
it performs the exact same function as adding a service reference in visual studio to consume the service.
If your having trouble, i'd suggest just creating a simple console project in visual studio, adding a service reference and giving it the url of the service you've hosted in IIS. Then click "show all files" in the visual studio solution explorer and look at the reference.cs file it gives you. This will show you what information has been consumed from your service.
Edit
Hi Again,
After going through all the comments below I'm starting to see more about your problem. I think you misunderstand what it is your doing when in fact you've already achieved what you want to achieve.
The original project, the one you had with the WCF test client that worked did what you needed. It is a fully fledged WCF Service. All you needed to do was right click the solution in visual studio and publish it. If you then make sure that you make an IIS virtual directory point at your solution, through the publish wizard. Then when you run your project and then browse to that url, that will give you a service to consume for testing purposes.
What you are doing at the moment, creating a WCF project, adding that DLL to a website project is fundamentally wrong: The example you followed, presumably this one :
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms733766.aspx
is about creating a WCF service in a web site project from scratch. Not about adding a pre-existing WCF project and hosting it.
Your essentially trying to do one thing in two different ways together.
Your current course of action is to either remove the DLL in your web project and then create the service there. Or host your current WCF service in IIS ( the project you downloaded from me or your original one)
At this point you have a hosted service. Then usually you have an application to interact wtih it. This you found using svcutil and can be done in one of two ways:
You create the console application and do "Add Service Reference" to the URL you have hosted in IIS.
Or you use SVC Util.exe point it at the url which generates a class file you include in your console / application.
I hope that clears things up about WCF and what stages to use various tools?
Edit 2
Just in case you don't get to the Chat:
I still think theres something wrong with your original project. I'm not sure what you mean by the one with the DLL either? if that means your website project with the dll of the WCF project, then no not that one.
I've taken the project I sent you earlier. I've hosed that in IIS so that when i browse to localhost/EvalService on my machine i get the standard
"EvalService Service
You have created a service.
To test this service, you will need to create a client and use it to call the service. You can do this using the svcutil.exe tool from the command line with the following syntax:"
Once I had that set up i created a console application, "added service reference" in visual studio and it consumed teh service no problem.
Try doing the above with the project I sent you and see how far you get.

Updating Service reference WCF in VS2010 SP1 (mvc3 project) TFS -- Causes other developer failing to compile

On my local machine, I consume a WCF service via the Service References. I can add to the other WCF project and check in to TFS , run the service, Go to my main project and Click on Update Service Reference, and my web.config is fine whether change is needed or not. Rebuild is fine.
However, on another developer's machine, they make a change to the WCF Service run it, and go to main project and Update Service Reference, and sometimes the web.config get trampled, it doesn't show the Url to the wcf service etc... Thus compiling project causes a issue where it cannot find the namespace for the service reference.
Then if I get latest and checkin and tell a developer to get latest, their web.config will update, but they still increasingly have a problem with the namespace for the service reference does not exist. It is running, the update to the service works. The Url in the browser shows the endpoints.... but vs 2010 sp1 has repository files that cannot find the service reference for some reason. "Are you missing an assembly reference?" Any ideas??
If in the svcutil dialog, the option to use shared assemblies is turned on, and if any signed assemblies are not an exact match, the checked in version will fail on the other machine.
You need to make sure the assemblies used have the same public key token.

Debug WCF service hosted in local IIS not working

I have one solution WCFSampleSolution and it has all my projects - Web Service, Client and Website. The structure is something like:
WCFSampleSolution
C:\WCFSample\Website
WCFService
WCFWebClient
I created WCFService project for my services. It contains IService1.cs and Service1.cs. Then I hosted the service in IIS. I did this by creating a website and adding .svc and web.config files to the website project. Then published it in IIS. When I run http:\MyMachineName\Website\Service.svc, it shows the service description. Then I create the web client that calls the webservice. I used the service reference to add the service. It calls a method of Service1. It works fine. But I amnot able to debug this program/setup. I verified the config files in WCFWebClient project and Website project and they have proper debug settings.
<compilation debug="true">
I put break points but control never goes to my seb service. I also tried attach process, but it also doesn't work. But I was able to debug one of my other WCF projects. The setup was little different. In that project I copied the .svc file and config in my web client and the debug works fine.
Please HELP!!
You are hosting your service on IIS so I am sure you must be attaching to w3wp.exe process. While trying to attach if VS built in web server is starting, then attach to that process as well.
What I find particularly easy is having two instances of visual studio open (especially if you use NUnit or doing anything to test out code). One will attach NUnit or whatever you wish, and the other will attach the w3wp.exe process. The easiest way is to:
1) Put a break point in the 1st instance of visual studio of the code right before it will hit the WCF service hosted on your machine.
2) Once the code stops at your breakpoint, set breakpoints in the 2nd instance of visual studio where you want to break then attach the w3wp.exe process.
3) Once you continue, the breakpoint on the service code should be hit.
It is sometimes easier to find the process id as well when attaching w3wp.exe. Using IIS, you can go to "Worker Process" and find the process id to attach for your Application Pool Name.
#user465876 - another approach that is less of a hassle can be found here: WCF can no longer step into a service that's locally hosted -- why not?

Update service reference not working

I'm using Visual Studio 2008 and have a WCF client working against a WCF service. They are both located in the same Visual Studio solution. After I've made a change in my WCF contract, I want to update the service reference on the client so that changes made to the contract is also made in the proxy.
My problem is that the proxy code is not re-generated.
When I select to update the service reference, the following happens:
A dialog with the title "Updating service reference 'name-of-reference'" is shown. This dialog has a progress bar.
The progressbar moves and the status text in the dialog is changed to "Updating configuration"
The progressbar moves a bit more, and the status text is chnaged to "Configuration update complete"
The dialog doesn't show the text "Generating \something\" (can't remember the exact wording) which I would expedct.
If I delete the service reference and add it again, the proxy is properly generated. I add the service using the exact same settings as before, so I don't think it's a issue I can solve by changing the service reference configuration on the client.
One thing I suspect may be the problem is that I've renamed the default wsHttpBindings in app.config. I've also renamed the default endpoints. The reason behind this is that I need more than one endpoint and having one named 'some-default-name' and one with my own name is just confusing.
The problem with deleting the service and adding it again is that Visual Studio adds a new binding in app.config (among other things) which should not be there.
Anyone seen this problem before? Anyone knows of a solution to it?
When we have had this problem it has usually been one of these errors:
The size of the contract has increased, and is now so large that the WCF configuration does not allow it to be transferred.
A new class has been added to a WCF Interface and that class is not marked as serializable.
There is a compile error that stops the code from building and it therefore uses the old dll
I've run into this problem with the following conditions:
Our workstations are connected to an Active Directory domain (nearly everything uses Windows Authentication)
The service reference I'm trying to update is hosted on localhost, and is running under IIS Express (so the Application Pool user is running as the developer's personal domain user account)
Another developer has added or updated the reference to the project more recently than me.
The only way I have figured out how to workaround this issue is to edit the configuration.svcinfo file for that service reference (you will need to show all files for the project to see it in visual studio), locate the following section:
userPrincipalName value="user#domain.com"
and change the user to my own domain user. After saving the file, I have no trouble updating the reference until another developer updates the service reference (likely using the same workaround). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out a permanent solution to this issue.
My error was that I forgot to add the OperationContract attribute.
In my case the problem was that the previous developer had added the service reference using his machine name rather than localhost. So when I told Visual Studio to update, it connected to his machine, which did not have the changes. I modified the service reference files and replaced his machine name with localhost and it was able to update the reference.
I had this problem too. Deleted the service reference and recreated it again.
My problem was that I had two methods with the same name. Everything builded fine, but I couldn't update service reference. When I tried to start just the WCF service, the error pops up.
Two easy steps to solve that:
Run Service, then stop it.
Update service reference.
Highlight the service as the active project, F5 to run it in VisualStudio, it will start up in the service test app. Stop debugging. Then try to update your service reference - worked for me.
I know this solution is a bit late, but after trying the posted solutions with no success, this worked:
When you create a WebService, it generates a .dll file that you reference as your service reference. This .dll is (as most know) not recreated everytime you make changes to the .SVC file. You can see this if you go and view the date modified property of the web service .dll file, in my case it was three hours old!
My solution was to make appropriate changes to the service contact, save it, and re-build the project which will cause it to recreate all the .dll's reflecting the changes you made to the service contact file (.svc).
After this, update the service reference on the client app, and the changes are evident.
Spades
I had the same problem. Modified some of the data contracts. Tried to "Update Service Reference" and did not see the change. Dropped and re-added the service. Still didn't see the change when writing code in the client. Opened my client with Reflector and saw the service types had the change! So why was intellisense still showing old properties? Restarted Visual Studio and the modifications finally showed in intellisense.
I had the same problem, this by me it was caused by GIT Merge Conflict, i was missing the following code from my csproj file
<ItemGroup>
<None Include="Service References\<SERVICE NAME>\Reference.svcmap">
<Generator>WCF Proxy Generator</Generator>
<LastGenOutput>Reference.cs</LastGenOutput>
</None>
</ItemGroup>
I have added this onder the line of Reference.svcmap
Another solution to these kinds of problems is if your namespaces get jumbled in referenced projects that both consume the service. So:
ProjectA - Consumes ServiceA
ProjectB - Consumes ServiceA, Has Reference to ProjectA
If you change ServiceA and update ProjectB, sometimes the namespaces can can change to look at ProjectA's version of the service.