Create XML representation of WCF binding instance - wcf

Question

I'm trying to write code to convert a WCF wsHttpBinding to customBinding, using the method described on WSHttpBinding.CreateBindingElements Method
.
Binding wsHttpBinding = ...
BindingElementCollection beCollection = originalBinding.CreateBindingElements();
foreach (var element in beCollection)
{
customBinding.Elements.Add(element);
}
Once I have generated the custom binding, I want to generate an XML representation for that new custom binding. (The same XML representation that's found in an application's .config file).
Is there a way to do that?
(I'm aware of the tool referenced in this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/4217892/5688, but I need something I can call within an application and without depending on a service in the cloud)

Answer 1

The class I was looking for was System.ServiceModel.Description.ServiceContractGenerator
Exemple to generate a configuration for an instance of any kind of Binding:
public static string SerializeBindingToXmlString(Binding binding)
{
var tempConfig = Path.GetTempFileName();
var tempExe = tempConfig + ".exe";
var tempExeConfig = tempConfig + ".exe.config";
// [... create empty .exe and empty .exe.config...]
var configuration = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(tempExe);
var contractGenerator = new ServiceContractGenerator(configuration);
string bindingSectionName;
string configurationName;
contractGenerator.GenerateBinding(binding, out bindingSectionName, out configurationName);
BindingsSection bindingsSection = BindingsSection.GetSection(contractGenerator.Configuration);
// this needs to be called in order for GetRawXml() to return the updated config
// (otherwise it will return an empty string)
contractGenerator.Configuration.Save();
string xmlConfig = bindingsSection.SectionInformation.GetRawXml();
// [... delete the temporary files ...]
return xmlConfig;
}
This solution feels like a hack because of the need to generate empty temporary files, but it works.
Now I'll have to look for a way to have a fully in-memory instance of a System.Configuration.Configuration (maybe by writing my own implementation)

Answer 2

Added missing code parts:
// [... create empty .exe and empty .exe.config...]
// [... delete the temporary files ...]
public static string SerializeBindingToXmlString(Binding binding)
{
var tempConfig = System.IO.Path.GetTempFileName();
var tempExe = tempConfig + ".exe";
var tempExeConfig = tempConfig + ".exe.config";
using(System.IO.FileStream fs = new System.IO.FileStream(tempExe, System.IO.FileMode.OpenOrCreate, System.IO.FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
}
using (System.IO.FileStream fs = new System.IO.FileStream(tempExeConfig, System.IO.FileMode.OpenOrCreate, System.IO.FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
fs.SetLength(0);
using (System.IO.StreamWriter sr = new System.IO.StreamWriter(fs, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8)) {
sr.WriteLine("<?xml version= \"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" ?>");
sr.WriteLine(#"<configuration />");
}
}
var configuration = System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(tempExe);
var contractGenerator = new System.ServiceModel.Description. ServiceContractGenerator(configuration);
string bindingSectionName;
string configurationName;
contractGenerator.GenerateBinding(binding, out bindingSectionName, out configurationName);
var bindingsSection =System.ServiceModel.Configuration.BindingsSection.GetSection(contractGenerator.Configuration);
// this needs to be called in order for GetRawXml() to return the updated config
// (otherwise it will return an empty string)
contractGenerator.Configuration.Save();
string xmlConfig = bindingsSection.SectionInformation.GetRawXml();
System.IO.File.Delete(tempExeConfig);
System.IO.File.Delete(tempExe);
return xmlConfig;
}