ASMX to WCF conversion - wcf

Question

I had an asmx service in .NET Framework 3.5 which I have now converted to .NET Framework 4.0. Now I want to run this service as WCF service with the same ASMX extension. I read a couple of blogs which have step y step procedure to convert them. However they all refer to .NET Framework 3.5. Here are the references I got from internet.
http://weblogs.manas.com.ar/waj/2007/05/31/asmx-to-wcf-migration/
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/wenlong/archive/2007/09/18/how-to-use-asmx-extension-to-handle-wcf-requests.aspx
I tried these and they work well with 3.5 framework but not with 4.0 framework. I got the error
Unable to cast object of type
'System.Web.Compilation.BuildResultCustomString'
to type
'System.Web.Compilation.BuildResultCompiledType'.
on which I added httpHandler section and it was gone. However now I get a new error
Could not load type
'System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpHandler'
from assembly 'System.ServiceModel,
Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,
PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089'
Can anyone help me out with this error.

Answer 1

I got it working with aspNetCompatibilityEnabled set to 'true' like this:
Add a reference to:
System.ServiceModel.Activation
in your web.config:
<system.web>
<compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.0">
<buildProviders>
<remove extension=".asmx"/>
<add extension=".asmx" type="System.ServiceModel.Activation.ServiceBuildProvider, System.ServiceModel, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"/>
</buildProviders>
</compilation>
</system.web>
<system.webServer>
<handlers>
<remove name="WebServiceHandlerFactory-Integrated"/>
<add name="MyNewAsmxHandler" path="*.asmx" verb="*" type="System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpHandler, System.ServiceModel.Activation, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" />
</handlers>
<validation validateIntegratedModeConfiguration="false" />
</system.webServer>
mind the type and publickeytoken changes in the handler! It has to be 'System.ServiceModel.Activation' in stead of 'System.ServiceModel' and 'PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' as Microsoft has split these into seperate assemblies

Answer 2

I think you may need to register the .NET 4 handlers in IIS properly. Run ServiceModelReg.exe -ia from the .NET 4 framework directory and see if it helps.
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319>ServiceModelReg.exe /?
Microsoft (R) WCF/WF registration tool version 4.0.0.0
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Administration utility that manages the installation and uninstallation of
WCF and WF components on a single machine.
Usage:
ServiceModelReg.exe [(-ia|-ua|-r)|((-i|-u) -c:<command>)] [-v|-q] [-nologo]
[-h]
-ia
Install all components
-ua
Uninstall all components
-r
Extended only. Repairs all components
-i
Install components specified with -c
-u
Uninstall components specified with -c
-c:<component>
Install/uninstall a component:
httpnamespace - HTTP namespace reservation
tcpportsharing - TCP port sharing service
tcpactivation - TCP activation service (unsupported on .NET 4 Clien
t Profile)
namedpipeactivation - Named pipe activation service (unsupported on .NET
4 Client Profile)
msmqactivation - MSMQ activation service (unsupported on .NET 4 Clie
nt Profile)
etw - ETW event tracing manifests (Windows Vista or later
)
Can be used to install several components at the same time
-q
Quiet mode (only error logging)
-v
Verbose mode
-nologo
Suppress the copyright and banner message
-h
Displays this help text.
Examples:
ServiceModelReg.exe -ia
Installs all components
ServiceModelReg.exe -i -c:httpnamespace -c:etw
Installs HTTP namespace reservation and ETW manifest
ServiceModelReg.exe -u -c:etw
Uninstalls ETW manifests
ServiceModelReg.exe -r
Repairs an extended install