I have WCF Service with nettcpbinding endpoint , how can I consume this service in WP8?,
I don't want to use sockets because I don't want to change the implementation of my service, is there any way to consume the service using sockets?
Will nettcpbinding be supported in the next versions of WP8, if yes then when?
I not using WCF (but that *.asmx), Its more simple type of services but this solution maybe work too for you
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/jj684580%28v=vs.105%29.aspx
You can implement it yourself.
It's not that hard, and the protocol stack is well-documented.
See this article for an overview.
WP7-8 already includes binary XML serialization used by nettcp, namely XmlDictionaryReader and XmlDictionaryWriter classes. So, you only need to implement the lower-level pieces of the protocol, i.e. the framing protocol, and SOAP envelopes.
What is the relationship between WCF and REST&SOAP? Is WCF based on one of those technologies (REST or SOAP) or it is a separate technology?
WCF is a messaging framework for building distributed systems. Distributed systems is mostly just another word for web services.
What this means is that you can write methods in C# (or any of the .NET languages) and then apply a bunch of configurations to the code that make your code accessible to others and turn your code into a web service.
Those "bunch of configurations" are WCF. WCF allows you to expose your methods to other computers or applications using REST if you set up the WCF configurations around your C# code to expose it as a RESTful service. Or, you can easily take the same C# methods and make them available via the SOAP protocol.
If you have a method called "GetData()", you can set up the WCF configuration to make that method available in a service that is hosted in IIS. When someone calls that service, they can send an HTTP GET request to http://www.yourdomain.com/SomeService/GetData, and the GetData method will receive the message and send back a response. When you make a GET request over HTTP, you're using the REST. REST is pretty much tied to HTTP as the transport protocol. REST also has no standard message format. Whatever you want to send in your HTTP message, and however you want to send it is OK. You can send XML, or JSON, or just plain text. You can use POST, or GET or PUT or any of the HTTP verbs as well.
With SOAP, your messages can be sent to the service using any transport protocol -- you aren't tied to HTTP. SOAP messages are designed to be transport neutral. They are encoded in XML and the XML always has a head and a body node inside of an envelope node. There are lots of web standards around SOAP -- standards for putting security, sessions and other features into the header of the message, for example. Also, with SOAP, you get a WSDL, which I won't go into explaining here, but it makes it a LOT easier for clients to program against. Most programming languages have a method of taking a WSDL and converting it into strongly-typed methods and objects so that your service is easy to call.
REST is very popular on the internet and is as scalable as the internet (i.e. VERY scalable). SOAP is very popular in business-to-business applications.
WCF isn't automatically REST or SOAP, but you can make it that way. What you need here is a tutorial:
WCF
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/406096/A-beginners-tutorial-for-understanding-Windows
REST
http://rest.elkstein.org/
Here's some other interesting stuff:
WCF - REST / SOAP
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh323708(v=vs.100).aspx
WCF and REST
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee391967.aspx
Or you can do a google/bing/metacrawler/altavista search on your own.....
From MSDN
The WCF programming model provides various capabilities, such as SOAP
services, web HTTP services, data services, rich internet application
(RIA) services, and workflow services. SOAP services support
interoperability between systems that are built with Java, other
platforms, and those that use messaging standards that are supported
by Microsoft®. SOAP services also support transports such as HTTP,
TCP, named pipes, and MSMQ. Web HTTP services and data services both
support REST. Web HTTP services enable you to control the service
location, request and response, formats, and protocols. Data services
enable you to expose data models, and data-driven logic as services.
WCF also includes two programming models: The service model and the
channel model. The service model provides a framework for defining
data contracts, service contracts and service behaviors. The channel
model supports specifying formats, transports, and protocols.
Both SOAP and REST services can provide functionality to web
applications, and both can be used to exchange information in the
web's distributed environment. Each one has its own advantages, and
limitations.
Although, this question has got several good answers, just putting in my 2-cents, in an attempt for newbies to WCF vs SOAP vs REST-full services, to make it a bit easier for them to understand.
We get confusions, whether WCF supports both REST and SOAP ? And, normally, we just see generic definitions about SOAP and REST. So , we need something from Microsoft to make us feel the truth : ) So here's a screenshot from Microsoft MSDN :
So, yes, WCF supports both .
In context with OP:
SOAP services: in WCF programming model support interoperability between systems that are built with Java, other
platforms, and those that use messaging standards that are supported
by Microsoft®. These also support transports such as HTTP,
TCP, named pipes, and MSMQ.
Web HTTP services : in WCF programming model supports REST. [Source: MSDN]
As the question suggests, is providing the WSDL really necessary, or is it more of a "nice to have" feature? I have written a RESTful service, using .Net 4.0. I see now that WSDL isn't automatically generated by adding ?wsdl... and I can't get it to either after trying various suggestions :-/
I have written several ASMX services in the past - all well and good as the WSDL is accessible automatically. I want to move away from SOAP. I would prefer to provide potential users with a Class (C#, Java versions etc..) and sample code. Is that an equally viable option? Or am I being lazy in suggesting all that?
Thanks for your opinions.
WSDL = SOAP;
REST != WSDL;
For a REST Service, WSDL is not a nice-to-have it is a cannot-have.
If you are exposing a RESTful service then WSDL does not mean anything - WSDL means you have a SOAP web service.
You can expose a SOAP web service in addition to your REST service but the WSDL would be for that service.
I am wondering how WCF serialize the method call, e.g. how the target class, method, method parameters are serialized, anybody has idea?
You can use Fiddler to find out! If you set up a WCF service using HTTP bindings, Fiddler can show you the traffic between your client and service.
WCF is fundamentally a SOAP message service - so your messages will be SOAP messages, with all the SOAP envelopes, containing headers and body.
Check out the great Service Station: Serialization In WCF MSDN article by Aaron Skonnard for an extensive discussion of all the ins and outs of serializing messages in WCF. Highly recommended reading.
MSDN:
WCF Message Logging,
Data Transfer and Serialization in Windows Communication Foundation.
Is there a way to retrieve wcf binding type and security mode just from a wsdl?
i.e. I want to know what bindings are supported by a wcf service by reading it's wsdl, is it possible?
Thanks
No - the WSDL only defines what operations are available on your service - plus it is totally unaware of and independent of WCF.
The only thing that might be included in WSDL (depending on where it came from) are certain bits of information about security needed, e.g. whether to connect using http vs. https, or other tidbits.
Marc