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dynamically set the base address of a WCF service in the client

I built a WCF service library and hosted it through a host application. Then I constructed a client application, but it seems that the address of the service host is hard coded in the client program. What if the host changes its address? Is it possible to write the client application so that the address of the host can be entered by the client at run time?

Yes, it's possible, if you write the WCF client proxy by hand, instead of generating it automatically with Visual Studio adding a service reference.
Let's start from this example (https://learn.microsoft.com/it-it/dotnet/framework/wcf/feature-details/how-to-use-the-channelfactory), just to understand how ChannelFactory works, and then modify it a little bit, adding the following function.
private ChannelFactory<IMath> _myChannelFactory;
// ...
private IMath GetChannel(string endpointConfigurationName, string endpointAddress)
{
if (_myChannelFactory == null)
{
this.DebugLog("Channel factory is null, creating new one");
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(endpointAddress))
{
_myChannelFactory = new ChannelFactory<IMath>(endpointConfigurationName);
}
else
{
_myChannelFactory = new ChannelFactory<IMath>(endpointConfigurationName, new EndpointAddress(endpointAddress));
}
}
return _myChannelFactory.CreateChannel();
}
You can define the default server IP in the client App.config file
<system.serviceModel>
<!-- ... -->
<client>
<endpoint address="net.tcp://192.168.10.55:81/math/" binding="netTcpBinding"
bindingConfiguration="NetTcpBinding_IMath"
contract="MyNamespace.IMath" name="NetTcpBinding_IMath" />
</client>
</system.serviceModel>
In this way, when GetChannel("NetTcpBinding_IMath", "net.tcp://127.0.0.1:81/math") is called, it picks up the endpoint configuration from App.config file, replacing the default address (192.168.10.55) with the new one (127.0.0.1).
Some more documentation about ChannelFactory: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.servicemodel.channelfactory-1.createchannel?view=netframework-4.8

Inject Service Reference into .NET with AppSettings.json and Startup.cs

My project is not finding the service reference endpoint in runtime. I believe it's due to incorrect injection in my Startup.cs. I'm new to the appsettings.json and Startup.cs method of configuration but have successfully scoped my class library and Dbcontext in the Startup.cs.
Note, if it makes a difference, this VS solution contains a class library and a .NET/angular2 web project. The call to the Service is initiated from angular website to the Web API, which calls methods on the class library where actual processing occurs.
The service reference "CybersourceTrxnProcessor" shows up in my class library project (see image) and ITransactionProcessor is exposed and accessible (i.e. code-hinting working perfectly). The web project DOES NOT have the service reference in the solution explorer.
When I added the reference, the sections were added to the app.config file (see below) and I copied them to the web.config in the web project.
How do I 'recreate' the web.config settings in the appsettings and Startup?
When attempting to process a test payment, this line of code throws an exception:
TransactionProcessorClient proc = new TransactionProcessorClient("ITransactionProcessor");
I have also tried defining the endpoint manually just prior but the same error results:
System.ServiceModel.EndpointAddress theendpoint = new System.ServiceModel.EndpointAddress("https://ics2wstesta.ic3.com/commerce/1.x/transactionProcessor");
TransactionProcessorClient proc = new TransactionProcessorClient("ITransactionProcessor", theendpoint);
This is the error:
An Exception occurred while trying to process your payment. Please try again. Could not find endpoint element with name 'ITransactionProcessor' and contract 'CybersourceTrxnProcessor.ITransactionProcessor' in the ServiceModel client configuration section. This might be because no configuration file was found for your application, or because no endpoint element matching this name could be found in the client element.
Here is what config file looks like, generated when I added the service reference to the project in Visual Studio (and also matches what's in an older MVC project):
<system.serviceModel>
<bindings>
<basicHttpBinding>
<binding name="ITransactionProcessor">
<security mode="TransportWithMessageCredential" />
</binding>
<binding name="ITransactionProcessor1" />
</basicHttpBinding>
</bindings>
<client>
<endpoint address="https://ics2wstesta.ic3.com/commerce/1.x/transactionProcessor" binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="ITransactionProcessor"
contract="CybersourceTrxnProcessor.ITransactionProcessor" name="portXML" />
</client>
</system.serviceModel>
This is the appsettings.json:
"ITransactionProcessor": {
"security": { "mode": "TransportWithMessageCredential" },
"client": {
"endpoint": {
"address": "https://ics2wstesta.ic3.com/commerce/1.x/transactionProcessor",
"binding": "basicHttpBinding",
"bindingConfiguration": "ITransactionProcessor",
"contract": "CybersourceTrxnProcessor.ITransactionProcessor",
"name": "portXML"
}
}
}
This is what I have in Startup.cs (also need to set the Security mode to TransportWithMessageCredential as prescribed by Cybersource docs):
services.AddScoped<ITransactionProcessor>(provider => {
var client = new TransactionProcessorClient();
client.Endpoint.Address = new EndpointAddress(Configuration["ITransactionProcessor:client:endpoint:address"]);
client.Endpoint.Contract = new System.ServiceModel.Description.ContractDescription(Configuration["ITransactionProcessor:client:endpoint:contract"]);
client.Endpoint.Binding = new System.ServiceModel.BasicHttpBinding();
client.Endpoint.Name = "portXML";
return client;
});

Just FYI, I finally figured this out. Everything I had was correct except ONE tiny thing (doesn't it almost always come down to something simple). The error actually told me exactly what it needed. I simply needed to change my appsettings.json like so:
"name": "portXML"
to
"name": "ITransactionProcessor"

Configure WCF where ServiceContract and service implementation are in separate assemblies

I've looked at a lot of questions on this site that discuss, but don't directly answer this question. I have the following:
In Library.dll:
namespace LibraryNamespace
{
[ServiceContract]
public interface IService
{
[OperationContract]
void Operation();
}
}
In Implementation.dll:
namespace ImplementationNamespace
{
public class ServiceImplementation : IService
{
public void Operation()
{
// Do Something
}
}
}
In app.config:
<service name="ImplementationNamespace.ServiceImplementation">
<endpoint
address="ServiceImplementation"
binding="netTcpBinding"
contract="LibraryNamespace.IService" />
....
</service>
And I keep having a warning with contract="LibraryNamespace.IService". The program runs, but I have a feeling this warning is causing me more problems down the line.
The 'contract' attribute is invalid - The value
'LibraryNamespace.IService' is invalid according to its datatype
'serviceContractType' - The Enumeration constraint has failed.
It works when the ServiceContract and the service implementation are in the same assembly and namespace, but for some reason, it doesn't work here. How can I reference it properly?

I am not sure Why do you want to have the contract and implementation in separate dll? any specific reason? Generally they will be in same assembly and so in config file you can refer them with ease. One way to solve this is creating the service endpoint at runtime like below.
In your hosting project refer both the dll Library.dll and Implementation.dll and have the below code to add the endpoint
using LibraryNamespace;
using ImplementationNamespace;
// Specify a base address for the service
String baseAddress = "http://localhost/ServiceImplementation";
// Create the tcp binding
NetTcpBindings tcp = new NetTcpBindings();
// Define service and Create the endpoint
using(ServiceHost host = new ServiceHost(typeof(ServiceImplementation)))
{
host.AddServiceEndpoint(typeof(IService),tcp, baseAddress);
}

How to get rid of app.config and move it all into code?

I tried this question in a generic way on this post: https://stackoverflow.com/q/18968846/147637
But that did not get us to the result.
Soooo, here it is concretely!
I have the code below. It works. In VS, you add a web reference, code up the below, and then.... start fiddling the app.config.
And it works.
But I need to get rid of the app config. It is a problem that crucial pieces of the code are not in the.... code. It is hard to document, and easy for folks looking at this example to forget to look in the app config (this is an example for other devs).
So the question is: How do I move the contents of app.config into code?
(I am a part part part time coder. Pointing me at generic documentation won't get me there, sorry to say!)
**// .cs file:**
using myNameSpace.joesWebService.WebAPI.SOAP;
namespace myNameSpace
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// create the SOAP client
joesWebServerClient server = new joesWebServerClient();
string payloadXML = Loadpayload(filename);
// Run the SOAP transaction
string response = server.WebProcessShipment(string.Format("{0}#{1}", Username, Password), payloadXML);
=================================================
**app.config**
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<startup>
<supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.5" />
</startup>
<system.serviceModel>
<bindings>
<basicHttpBinding>
<!-- Some non default stuff has been added by hand here -->
<binding name="IjoesWebServerbinding" maxBufferSize="256000000" maxReceivedMessageSize="256000000" />
</basicHttpBinding>
</bindings>
<client>
<endpoint address="http://joesWebServer/soap/IEntryPoint"
binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="IjoesWebServerbinding"
contract="myNameSpace.joesWebService.WebAPI.SOAP.IjoesWebServer"
name="IjoesWebServerSOAP" />
</client>
</system.serviceModel>
</configuration>

Generally speaking, a config file is preferred over hard-coding the settings because all you need to do with a config file is change the values you want to change and then restart the application. If they're hardcoded, you have to modify the source, recompile and redeploy.
Having said that, you can pretty much do everything in code that you do in the config file for WCF (I seem to recall a few exceptions, but don't remember them off hand).
One way to achieve what you're looking for is to define the binding in your code and create the client via ChannelFactory<T>, where T is the interface for your service (more accurately the service contract, which is usually in an interface and then implemented by a class).
For example:
using System.ServiceModel;
using myNameSpace.joesWebService.WebAPI.SOAP;
namespace myNameSpace
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Create the binding
BasicHttpBinding myBinding = new BasicHttpBinding();
myBinding.MaxBufferSize = 256000000;
myBinding.MaxReceivedMessageSize = 256000000;
// Create the Channel Factory
ChannelFactory<IjoesWebServer> factory =
new ChannelFactory<IjoesWebServer>(myBinding, "http://joesWebServer/soap/IEntryPoint");
// Create, use and close the client
IjoesWebService client = null;
string payloadXML = Loadpayload(filename);
string response;
try
{
client = factory.CreateChannel();
((IClientChannel)client).Open();
response = client.WebProcessShipment(string.Format("{0}#{1}", Username, Password), payloadXML);
((IClientChannel)client).Close();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
((ICientChannel)client).Abort();
// Do something with the error (ex.Message) here
}
}
}
Now you don't need a config file. The additional settings you had in the example are now in the code.
The advantage of ChannelFactory<T> is that once you create an instance of the factory, you can generate new channels (think of them as clients) at will by calling CreateChannel(). This will speed things up as most of your overhead will be in the creation of the factory.
An additional note - you're using I<name> in a lot of places in your config file. I usually denotes an interface, and if a full time developer were to look at your project it might be a little confusing for them at first glance.

With WCF 4.5, if you add a static config method to your WCF service class, then it will load automatically and ignore what's in app.config file.
<ServiceContract()>
Public Interface IWCFService
<OperationContract()>
Function GetData(ByVal value As Integer) As String
<OperationContract()>
Function GetDataUsingDataContract(ByVal composite As CompositeType) As CompositeType
End Interface
Public Class WCFService
Implements IWCFService
Public Shared Function CreateClient() As Object
End Function
Public Shared Sub Configure(config As ServiceConfiguration)
'Define service endpoint
config.AddServiceEndpoint(GetType(IWCFService), _
New NetNamedPipeBinding, _
New Uri("net.pipe://localhost/WCFService"))
'Define service behaviors
Dim myServiceBehaviors As New Description.ServiceDebugBehavior With {.IncludeExceptionDetailInFaults = True}
config.Description.Behaviors.Add(myServiceBehaviors)
End Sub
Public Function GetData(ByVal value As Integer) As String Implements IWCFService.GetData
Return String.Format("You entered: {0}", value)
End Function
Public Function GetDataUsingDataContract(ByVal composite As CompositeType) As CompositeType Implements IWCFService.GetDataUsingDataContract
End Function
End Class
I'm still looking into how to do the same for the client. I'll try to update when I figure it out if there's any interest.

RIA services WCF timeout

I have an application which is written in silverlight 3.0. It uses RIA services to communicate between the client and server.
My question doesn't seem to be answered very well on the web. The client communicates to the server using RIA services, which uses WCF behind the scenes. If the communication takes more than 60 seconds it times out with this message,
'Load operation failed for query 'ApplyUpgrade'. The HTTP requrest to 'http://localhost:52403/ClientBin/DatabaseUpgradeTool-Web-UpgradePackageDomainService.svc/binary' has exceeded the allotted timeout. The time allotted to this operation may have been a portion of a longer timeout.'
My server is performing a database upgrade, so it is valid for it to take more than 60 seconds. Probably double or triple that.
I tried settings like this in the web.config,
<services>
<service name="DatabaseUpgradeTool.Web.UpgradePackageDomainService">
<endpoint address="" binding="wsHttpBinding" contract="DatabaseUpgradeTool.Web.UpgradePackageDomainService"></endpoint>
<endpoint address="/soap" binding="basicHttpBinding" contract="DatabaseUpgradeTool.Web.UpgradePackageDomainService"></endpoint>
<endpoint address="/binary" binding="customBinding" bindingConfiguration="BinaryHttpBinding" contract="DatabaseUpgradeTool.Web.UpgradePackageDomainService"></endpoint>
</service>
</services>
<bindings>
<customBinding>
<binding name="BinaryHttpBinding"
receiveTimeout="00:00:10"
sendTimeout="00:00:10"
openTimeout="00:00:10"
closeTimeout="00:00:10">
<binaryMessageEncoding />
<httpTransport keepAliveEnabled="true"/>
</binding>
</customBinding>
</bindings>
Still no joy. Any ideas as to what is wrong with what I have tried above? I would expect the above to cause it to timeout within 10 seconds, not 60.
Thanks.

Not sure if this will help, I haven't tried it with time outs configurations, but it might point you in the right direction:
http://blogs.objectsharp.com/CS/blogs/dan/archive/2010/04/13/maxitemsinobjectgraph-wcf-ria-services-exception.aspx

I faced the same problem, I posted the answer to this question here: Silverlight 4 WCF RIA Service Timeout Problem
Here is the answer:
I'll explain my context and I wish it will work for my. I'm sure about that.
First of all to call RIA services, and using some domain context, in my example:
EmployeeDomainContext context = new EmployeeDomainContext();
InvokeOperation<bool> invokeOperation = context.GenerateTMEAccessByEmployee(1, 'Bob');
invokeOperation.Completed += (s, x) =>
{....};
Nothing new until here. And with this I was facing every time that same timeout exception after 1 minute. I spend quite a lot of time trying to face how to change the timeout definition, I tried all possible changes in Web.config and nothing. The solution was:
Create a CustomEmployeeDomainContext, that is a partial class localizated in the same path of the generated code and this class use the hook method OnCreate to change the behavior of created domain context. In this class you should wrote:
public partial class EmployeeDomainContext : DomainContext
{
partial void OnCreated()
{
PropertyInfo channelFactoryProperty = this.DomainClient.GetType().GetProperty("ChannelFactory");
if (channelFactoryProperty == null)
{
throw new InvalidOperationException(
"There is no 'ChannelFactory' property on the DomainClient.");
}
ChannelFactory factory = (ChannelFactory)channelFactoryProperty.GetValue(this.DomainClient, null);
factory.Endpoint.Binding.SendTimeout = new TimeSpan(0, 10, 0);
}
}
I looking forward for you feedback.