ASMX web-services and HTTP GET - c#

I'm trying create a ASMX webservice that can perform a HTTP GET request. I have the following simple snippet of code to illustrate what I've already done.
using System.Web.Script.Services;
...
[WebMethod]
[ScriptMethod(UseHttpGet = true)]
public string HelloWorld(HttpContext context)
{
return context.Request.Params.Get("userId").ToString();
}
In addition to this, I've also added the following nodes in my Web.config file
<webServices>
<protocols>
<add name="HttpGet"/>
<add name="HttpPost"/>
</protocols>
</webServices>
The problem that I'm facing is that I'm constantly getting the dreaded "System.Web.HttpContext cannot be serialized because it does not have a parameterless constructor" error message whenever I try to debug this webservice. I have no idea what the problem is, and I would really appreciate any assistance that is offered to get me out of this quandary. I realize that HTTP GET requests are supposed to be very simple, but I'm really uncertain of what the cause of my frustrations are.

I think you want
[WebMethod]
[ScriptMethod(UseHttpGet = true)]
public string HelloWorld(int userId)
{
return userId.ToString();
}
You can specify parameters in the function signature and you can access the HttpContext as Context (a property on the base class WebService) if you need it.

Related

How do I restrict POST access to a HttpHandler?

I have a few http handlers (IHttpHandler) in my asp.net web project. Now I want to restrict access to these handlers. For Handler1 I want to allow only POST requests, and for Handler2 I want to allow only GET requests.
In my web.config I modified the <httpHandlers> section as shown below, but both handlers still process all verb types. Is there something I've missed? I'm testing it using IIS Express.
<httpHandlers>
<add verb="POST" path="Handler1.ashx" type="MyNamesapce.Handler1, MyAssembly"/>
<add verb="GET" path="Handler2.ashx" type="MyNamesapce.Handler2, MyAssembly"/>
</httpHandlers>
The reason this isn't working for you is that you've conflated two slightly different "flavours" of something that implements IHttpHandler.
There are two ways that you can implement an IHttpHandler with asp.net:
Create a class that implements IHttpHandler, e.g. MyCustomHandler.cs. This type of handler won't respond to any requests without being configured in your web.config file.
Create an .ashx file (which it looks like you've done), e.g. MyOtherHandler.ashx. This type of handler will respond to any requests to its URL, e.g. http://localhost/MyOtherHandler.ashx
The first type requires entries in the web.config file to work, the second doesn't. This is why you're seeing your .ashx handlers responding to all HTTP verbs, because they're being handled by the part of the asp.net framework that responds to requests for .ashx files, rather than being triggered by your web.config file. If you're using IIS Express, you can see this configured in the file %USERPROFILE%\Documents\IISExpress\config\applicationhost.config. Search for ".ashx" and you'll find a line similar to the below in the <system.webServer><handlers> section:
<add name="SimpleHandlerFactory-Integrated-4.0" path="*.ashx"
verb="GET,HEAD,POST,DEBUG" type="System.Web.UI.SimpleHandlerFactory"
preCondition="integratedMode,runtimeVersionv4.0" />
This is equivalent to what you've been adding to your web.config, but is responsible for telling IIS/asp.net "respond to any URLs that end in .ashx with any of the listed verbs by having the code in the type System.Web.UI.SimpleHandlerFactory deal with it. This code then loads your .ashx file.
To create a handler that can respond to any address you choose, you need (in short) a .cs file containing something similar to:
using System.Web;
namespace HttpHandlers
{
public class Handler4 : IHttpHandler
{
public bool IsReusable
{
get { return true; }
}
public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext context)
{
context.Response.Write("Hello World from Handler4.cs");
}
}
}
You can then wire it into your web.config file with:
<add name="Handler4" verb="POST" path="Handler4.ashx" type="HttpHandlers.Handler4, HttpHandlers" />
NOTE: My project that I created to test this is called "HttpHandlers", hence the type declaration that I've specified in that web.config snippet.

Extending WebService Proxy class (imported from WSDL) methods

I've created an WebService proxy class based on a WSDL (in my Visual Studio 2010 .NET solution).
Now what I need is, that the soap header of my request to the remote web service have a specific format, imagine something with two or three fields is not very relevant.
So my solution was, I edited the code generated by Visual Studio and commented out the method where i needed that custom soap header.
Next, because the web service class is marked as partial, I created safe code (that cannot be touched by the generator) in a class with the same name of the generated one (so it's the same class) and declared there the method commented out previously.
I declared it like this:
//this is the generated code file
public partial class Invoices: InvoicesWS.invoices
{
//[System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapDocumentMethodAttribute( ...
//public RegisterInvoiceResponseType RegisterInvoice(RegisterInvoiceType ...)
//{ ... }
}
//this is the class I created else where in my project
public partial class Invoices: InvoicesWS.invoices
{
public SecureSoapHeader Security { get; set; }
[SoapHeader("Security", Direction = SoapHeaderDirection.In)]
[System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapDocumentMethodAttribute(
"http://someurl.pt/invoices/RegisterInvoice",
Use = System.Web.Services.Description.SoapBindingUse.Literal,
ParameterStyle = System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapParameterStyle.Bare),
TraceExtension()]
public RegisterInvoiceResponseType RegisterInvoice(RegisterInvoiceType RegisterInvoiceElem)
{
object[] results =
this.Invoke("RegisterInvoice", new object[] {RegisterInvoiceElem});
return ((RegisterInvoiceResponseType)(results[0]));
}
}
So, to make my proxy class send a custom header I did this.
But every time I remember to update the web reference, I'll have to manually comment out the method above that is being generated by the Visual Studio tool, to avoid conflicts due to having to methods
with the same signature.
Is there a better way, or best practice to address this situation?
Please do not advise me to do it with WCF, I know the solution for that,
but correctly this is the code that has been working and changing it at
this time is not a possibility.
Thanks.
You can achieve it with SoapExtension. You can create class that implements SoapExtension, and register it in web.config.
Sample of soap extension:
public class SecureSoapExtension : SoapExtension
{
public override object GetInitializer(LogicalMethodInfo methodInfo, SoapExtensionAttribute attribute)
{
return null;
}
public override object GetInitializer(Type serviceType)
{
return null;
}
public override void Initialize(object initializer)
{
}
public override void ProcessMessage(SoapMessage message)
{
// just for out requests
if (message.Stage == SoapMessageStage.BeforeSerialize)
{
// add needed soap header here
message.Headers.Add(new SecureSoapHeader());
}
}
}
And register in web.config to apply to all web services:
<system.web>
<webServices>
<soapExtensionTypes>
<add type="MyTestMvcApplication.SecureSoapExtension, MyTestMvcApplication, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral"></add>
</soapExtensionTypes>
</webServices>
</system.web>
Important note: If you are calling your Web Service from an external project, let's say, you have a Class Library where you program all your Proxy handling logic. You must add this to your calling project web.config/app.config too, otherwise it will not work:
<system.web>
<webServices>
<soapExtensionTypes>
<add type="MyTestMvcApplication.SecureSoapExtension, MyTestMvcApplication, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral"></add>
</soapExtensionTypes>
</webServices>
</system.web>
What kind of makes sense, since it's an Web Service extension it's let up to you "final caller" of the proxy, to decide whether to extend or not the web service request.

Webmatrix.WebData Login method results in exception

Hi I have been trying to integrate SimpleMembershipProvider into my asp.net mvc app but I seem to be having some problems with it.
This is what I have in my web.config:
<membership defaultProvider="SimpleMembershipProvider">
<providers>
<add name="SimpleMembershipProvider" type="WebMatrix.WebData.SimpleMembershipProvider"/>
</providers>
</membership>
This is the code I am trying to run in order to Login a user:
public bool Login(string userName, string password, bool rememberMe)
{
return WebSecurity.Login(userName, password, rememberMe);
}
Before all this get's called the following attribute code get's called and it works fine:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class | AttributeTargets.Method, AllowMultiple = false, Inherited = true)]
public class MembershipInitializerAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute
{
private const string CONNECTIONSTRING_NAME = "eShopConnectionString";
private const string DATABASE_TABLE_NAME = "Users";
private const string DATABASE_TABLE_IDENTIFIER_COLUMN = "UserId";
private const string DATABASE_TABLE_USER_NAME_COLUMN = "UserName";
private const bool AUTO_CREATE_TABLES = true;
public override void OnActionExecuting(HttpActionContext actionContext)
{
if (!WebSecurity.Initialized)
{
WebSecurity.InitializeDatabaseConnection(CONNECTIONSTRING_NAME, DATABASE_TABLE_NAME, DATABASE_TABLE_IDENTIFIER_COLUMN, DATABASE_TABLE_USER_NAME_COLUMN, AUTO_CREATE_TABLES);
}
}
}
The login method get's executed after I put my username and password.After I press the login button the Login Action get's executed that calls the Login method , witch throws the following exception:
{"Could not load type 'WebMatrix.WebData.SimpleMembershipProvider'. (F:\Programare\Projects IDE\Visual Studio\2012\e-shop\Backend\WebApi\e-shop.WebApi\web.config line 73)"}
After I did a but of research many suggested to set the WebMatrix.WebData Copy Local property to true.
After I did that it seems that something is wrong at the application startup because I no longer get to see the screen where I can insert my credentials I immediately get a screen with this message:
Description: An error occurred during the processing of a configuration file required to service this request. Please review the specific error details below and modify your configuration file appropriately.
Parser Error Message: This method cannot be called during the application's pre-start initialization phase.
What am I doing wrong and how can I correct it?
EDIT
I am also getting this StackTrace:
Your web.config entry does not look correct. The type attribute in the add element should include the assembly name after a comma. Here is what the web.config entry should look like.
<membership defaultProvider="SimpleMembershipProvider">
<providers>
<clear/>
<add name="SimpleMembershipProvider" type="WebMatrix.WebData.SimpleMembershipProvider, WebMatrix.WebData" />
</providers>
</membership>
Note that in addition to having the assembly name it is best to use the clear element to make sure you do not register multiple providers, which can cause strange behavior.

How to define endpoint without web.config or httpModule?

I would like to make a RESTful app of HTTPhandlers without having to define every endpoint by making an entry in the web.config, i'd like the style of attaching attributes to a class constructor eg:
public class obj : IHttpHandler
{
[WebGet(UriTemplate = "/accounts/{id}")]
public obj(string id)
{
// this is just an eg, it worild normally include caching and
// a template system
String html = File.ReadAllText("/accounts/accounts.htm");
html.replace("id", id);
httpcontext.current.response.write(html)
}
}
instead of
<httpHandlers>
<clear />
<add verb="GET" path="/accounts/*" type="MyApp.obj" />
</httphandlers>
The way i'm doing it now i have 100's of endpoints in the web.config :( i'd rather define them in the class. And i don't want to make extra files (.asmx) either. I'd like an app of just .htm files with tokens and .cs files
Thanks!
You could automate the registration of the endpoints and so on, with a custom ServiceHost, which overrides the ApplyConfiguration() method, which then virtualizes the configuration so that it does not have to be in the web.config file.
Here's a starting point. It doesn't do exactly what you want, but it illustrates the concept of virtualizing the configuration.

JQuery/WCF without ASP.NET AJAX:

I am proper struggling getting that "magic" moment when WCF is configured nicely and jQuery is structuring its requests/understanding responses nicely.
I have a service:
<%# ServiceHost Language="C#" Debug="true" Service="xxx.yyy.WCF.Data.ClientBroker" Factory="System.ServiceModel.Activation.WebScriptServiceHostFactory" %>
This was recommended by the man Rick Strahl to avoid having to define the behaviours within Web.config.
My interface for the WCF service sits in another assembly:
namespace xxx.yyy.WCF.Data
{
[ServiceContract(Namespace = "yyyWCF")]
public interface IClientBroker
{
[OperationContract]
[WebInvoke(Method="POST",BodyStyle=WebMessageBodyStyle.Wrapped,ResponseFormat=WebMessageFormat.Json)]
IClient GetClientJson(int clientId);
}
}
The concrete service class is:
namespace xxx.yyy.WCF.Data
{
[AspNetCompatibilityRequirements(RequirementsMode = AspNetCompatibilityRequirementsMode.Allowed)]
class ClientBroker : IClientBroker
{
public IClient GetClientJson(int clientId)
{
IClient client=new Client();
// gets and returns an IClient
return client;
}
}
}
My IClient is an Entity Framework class so is decorated with DataContract/DataMember attributes appropriately.
I am trying to call my WCF service using the methods outlined on Rick Strahl's blog at http://www.west-wind.com/weblog/posts/324917.aspx (the "full fat" version). The debugger jumps into the WCF service fine (so my jQuery/JSON is being understood) and gets the IClient and returns it. However, when I return the response, I get various useless errors. The errors I am getting back don't mean much.
I am using POST.
Am I right to be using an Interface instead of a concrete object? As it does get into the WCF service, it does seem to be the encoding of the result that is failing.
Does anyone have any ideas?
At first glance there are three problems with your code:
1: you should use the ServiceKnownTypeAttribute to specify known types when exposing only base types in your operation contracts:
[ServiceContract(Namespace = "yyyWCF")]
public interface IClientBroker
{
[OperationContract]
[ServiceKnownType(typeof(Client))]
[WebInvoke(
Method="GET",
BodyStyle=WebMessageBodyStyle.WrappedRequest,
ResponseFormat=WebMessageFormat.Json)]
IClient GetClientJson(int clientId);
}
2: You should use WebMessageBodyStyle.WrappedRequest instead of WebMessageBodyStyle.Wrapped because the latter is not compatible with WebScriptServiceHostFactory.
3: IMHO using Method="GET" would be more RESTful for a method called GetClientJson than Method="POST"
Another advice I could give you when working with WCF services is to use SvcTraceViewer.exe bundled with Visual Studio. It is a great tool for debugging purposes. All you need is to add the following section to your app/web.config:
<system.diagnostics>
<sources>
<source name="System.ServiceModel"
switchValue="Information, ActivityTracing"
propagateActivity="true">
<listeners>
<add name="sdt"
type="System.Diagnostics.XmlWriterTraceListener"
initializeData= "WcfDetailTrace.e2e" />
</listeners>
</source>
</sources>
</system.diagnostics>
Then invoke the web method and WcfDetailTrace.e2e file will be generated in your web site root directory. Next open this file with SvcTraceViewer.exe and you will see lots of useful information. For example it could say:
Cannot serialize parameter of type
'MyNamespace.Client' (for operation
'GetClientJson', contract
'IClientBroker') because it is not the
exact type 'MyNamespace.IClient' in
the method signature and is not in the
known types collection. In order to
serialize the parameter, add the type
to the known types collection for the
operation using
ServiceKnownTypeAttribute.
Of course you should not forget commenting this section before going into production or you might end up with some pretty big files.
I am 99% sure you cant return an interface. I dont think Interfaces are serializable.
check out this thread
Related to the question, a while ago I posted an article on my blog showing all the steps needed to get a WCF service working together with jQuery code on the client side:
http://yoavniran.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/creating-a-webservice-proxy-with-jquery/

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