What Is Windows Communication Foundation
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is a framework for building service-oriented applications. Using WCF, you can send data as asynchronous messages from one service endpoint to another. A service endpoint can be part of a continuously available service hosted by IIS, or it can be a service hosted in an application. An endpoint can be a client of a service that requests data from a service endpoint. The messages can be as simple as a single character or word sent as XML, or as complex as a stream of binary data. A few sample scenarios include:
· A secure service to process business transactions.
· A service that supplies current data to others, such as a traffic report or other monitoring service.
· A chat service that allows two people to communicate or exchange data in real time.
· A dashboard application that polls one or more services for data and presents it in a logical presentation.
· Exposing a workflow implemented using Windows Workflow Foundation as a WCF service.
· A Silverlight application to poll a service for the latest data feeds.
While creating such applications was possible prior to the existence of WCF, WCF makes the development of endpoints easier than ever. In summary, WCF is designed to offer a manageable approach to creating Web services and Web service clients.
Features of WCF
· Service Orientation
One consequence of using WS standards is that WCF enables you to create service oriented applications. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is the reliance on Web services to send and receive data. The services have the general advantage of being loosely-coupled instead of hard-coded from one application to another. A loosely-coupled relationship implies that any client created on any platform can connect to any service as long as the essential contracts are met.
One consequence of using WS standards is that WCF enables you to create service oriented applications. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is the reliance on Web services to send and receive data. The services have the general advantage of being loosely-coupled instead of hard-coded from one application to another. A loosely-coupled relationship implies that any client created on any platform can connect to any service as long as the essential contracts are met.
· Interoperability
WCF implements modern industry standards for Web service interoperability. For more information about the supported standards, see Interoperability and Integration.
WCF implements modern industry standards for Web service interoperability. For more information about the supported standards, see Interoperability and Integration.
· Multiple Message Patterns
Messages are exchanged in one of several patterns. The most common pattern is the request/reply pattern, where one endpoint requests data from a second endpoint. The second endpoint replies. There are other patterns such as a one-way message in which a single endpoint sends a message without any expectation of a reply. A more complex pattern is the duplex exchange pattern where two endpoints establish a connection and send data back and forth, similar to an instant messaging program. For more information about how to implement different message exchange patterns using WCF see Contracts.
Messages are exchanged in one of several patterns. The most common pattern is the request/reply pattern, where one endpoint requests data from a second endpoint. The second endpoint replies. There are other patterns such as a one-way message in which a single endpoint sends a message without any expectation of a reply. A more complex pattern is the duplex exchange pattern where two endpoints establish a connection and send data back and forth, similar to an instant messaging program. For more information about how to implement different message exchange patterns using WCF see Contracts.
· Service Metadata
WCF supports publishing service metadata using formats specified in industry standards such as WSDL, XML Schema and WS-Policy. This metadata can be used to automatically generate and configure clients for accessing WCF services. Metadata can be published over HTTP and HTTPS or using the Web Service Metadata Exchange standard. For more information, see Metadata.
WCF supports publishing service metadata using formats specified in industry standards such as WSDL, XML Schema and WS-Policy. This metadata can be used to automatically generate and configure clients for accessing WCF services. Metadata can be published over HTTP and HTTPS or using the Web Service Metadata Exchange standard. For more information, see Metadata.
· Data Contracts
Because WCF is built using the .NET Framework, it also includes code-friendly methods of supplying the contracts you want to enforce. One of the universal types of contracts is the data contract. In essence, as you code your service using Visual C# or Visual Basic, the easiest way to handle data is by creating classes that represent a data entity with properties that belong to the data entity. WCF includes a comprehensive system for working with data in this easy manner. Once you have created the classes that represent data, your service automatically generates the metadata that allows clients to comply with the data types you have designed. For more information, see Using Data Contracts
Because WCF is built using the .NET Framework, it also includes code-friendly methods of supplying the contracts you want to enforce. One of the universal types of contracts is the data contract. In essence, as you code your service using Visual C# or Visual Basic, the easiest way to handle data is by creating classes that represent a data entity with properties that belong to the data entity. WCF includes a comprehensive system for working with data in this easy manner. Once you have created the classes that represent data, your service automatically generates the metadata that allows clients to comply with the data types you have designed. For more information, see Using Data Contracts
· Security
Messages can be encrypted to protect privacy and you can require users to authenticate themselves before being allowed to receive messages. Security can be implemented using well-known standards such as SSL or WS-SecureConversation. For more information, see Windows Communication Foundation Security.
Messages can be encrypted to protect privacy and you can require users to authenticate themselves before being allowed to receive messages. Security can be implemented using well-known standards such as SSL or WS-SecureConversation. For more information, see Windows Communication Foundation Security.
· Multiple Transports and Encodings
Messages can be sent on any of several built-in transport protocols and encodings. The most common protocol and encoding is to send text encoded SOAP messages using is the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for use on the World Wide Web. Alternatively, WCF allows you to send messages over TCP, named pipes, or MSMQ. These messages can be encoded as text or using an optimized binary format. Binary data can be sent efficiently using the MTOM standard. If none of the provided transports or encodings suit your needs you can create your own custom transport or encoding. For more information about transports and encodings supported by WCF see Transports in Windows Communication Foundation.
Messages can be sent on any of several built-in transport protocols and encodings. The most common protocol and encoding is to send text encoded SOAP messages using is the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for use on the World Wide Web. Alternatively, WCF allows you to send messages over TCP, named pipes, or MSMQ. These messages can be encoded as text or using an optimized binary format. Binary data can be sent efficiently using the MTOM standard. If none of the provided transports or encodings suit your needs you can create your own custom transport or encoding. For more information about transports and encodings supported by WCF see Transports in Windows Communication Foundation.
· Reliable and Queued Messages
WCF supports reliable message exchange using reliable sessions implemented over WS-Reliable Messaging and using MSMQ. For more information about reliable and queued messaging support in WCF see Queues and Reliable Sessions.
WCF supports reliable message exchange using reliable sessions implemented over WS-Reliable Messaging and using MSMQ. For more information about reliable and queued messaging support in WCF see Queues and Reliable Sessions.
· Durable Messages
A durable message is one that is never lost due to a disruption in the communication. The messages in a durable message pattern are always saved to a database. If a disruption occurs, the database allows you to resume the message exchange when the connection is restored. You can also create a durable message using the Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). For more information, see Workflow Services.
A durable message is one that is never lost due to a disruption in the communication. The messages in a durable message pattern are always saved to a database. If a disruption occurs, the database allows you to resume the message exchange when the connection is restored. You can also create a durable message using the Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). For more information, see Workflow Services.
· Transactions
WCF also supports transactions using one of three transaction models: WS-AtomicTtransactions, the APIs in the System.Transactions namespace, and Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator. For more information about transaction support in WCF see Transactions.
WCF also supports transactions using one of three transaction models: WS-AtomicTtransactions, the APIs in the System.Transactions namespace, and Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator. For more information about transaction support in WCF see Transactions.
· AJAX and REST Support
REST is an example of an evolving Web 2.0 technology. WCF can be configured to process "plain" XML data that is not wrapped in a SOAP envelope. WCF can also be extended to support specific XML formats, such as ATOM (a popular RSS standard), and even non-XML formats, such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON).
REST is an example of an evolving Web 2.0 technology. WCF can be configured to process "plain" XML data that is not wrapped in a SOAP envelope. WCF can also be extended to support specific XML formats, such as ATOM (a popular RSS standard), and even non-XML formats, such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON).
· Extensibility
The WCF architecture has a number of extensibility points. If extra capability is required, there are a number of entry points that allow you to customize the behavior of a service. For more information about available extensibility points see Extending WCF.
The WCF architecture has a number of extensibility points. If extra capability is required, there are a number of entry points that allow you to customize the behavior of a service. For more information about available extensibility points see Extending WCF.
WCF Integration with Other Microsoft Technologies
WCF is a flexible platform. Because of this extreme flexibility, WCF is also used in several other Microsoft products. By understanding the basics of WCF, you have an immediate advantage if you also use any of these products.
The first technology to pair with WCF was the Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). Workflows simplify application development by encapsulating steps in the workflow as “activities.” In the first version of Windows Workflow Foundation, a developer had to create a host for the workflow. The next version of Windows Workflow Foundation was integrated with WCF. That allowed any workflow to be easily hosted in a WCF service; you can do this by automatically choosing the WF/WCF a project type in Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2010.
Microsoft BizTalk Server R2 also utilizes WCF as a communication technology. BizTalk is designed to receive and transform data from one standardized format to another. Messages must be delivered to its central message box where the message can be transformed using either a strict mapping or by using one of the BizTalk features such as its workflow engine. BizTalk can now use the WCF Line of Business (LOB) adapter to deliver messages to the message box.
Microsoft Silverlight is a platform for creating interoperable, rich Web applications that allow developers to create media-intensive Web sites (such as streaming video). Beginning with version 2, Silverlight has incorporated WCF as a communication technology to connect Silverlight applications to WCF endpoints.
Microsoft .NET Services is a cloud computing initiative that uses WCF for building Internet-enabled applications. Use .NET Services to create WCF services that operate across trust boundaries.
The hosting features of Windows Server AppFabric application server is specifically built for deploying and managing applications that use WCF for communication. The hosting features includes rich tooling and configuration options specifically designed for WCF-enabled applications.
Fundamental Windows Communication Foundation Concepts
This document provides a high-level view of the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) architecture. It is intended to explain key concepts and how they fit together. For a tutorial on creating the simplest version of a WCF service and client, see Getting Started Tutorial. To learn WCF programming, see Basic WCF Programming.
WCF Fundamentals
WCF is a runtime and a set of APIs for creating systems that send messages between services and clients. The same infrastructure and APIs are used to create applications that communicate with other applications on the same computer system or on a system that resides in another company and is accessed over the Internet.
Messaging and Endpoints
WCF is based on the notion of message-based communication, and anything that can be modeled as a message (for example, an HTTP request or a Message Queuing (also known as MSMQ) message) can be represented in a uniform way in the programming model. This enables a unified API across different transport mechanisms.
The model distinguishes between clients, which are applications that initiate communication, and services, which are applications that wait for clients to communicate with them and respond to that communication. A single application can act as both a client and a service. For examples, see Duplex Services and Peer-to-Peer Networking.
Messages are sent between endpoints. Endpoints are places where messages are sent or received (or both), and they define all the information required for the message exchange. A service exposes one or more application endpoints (as well as zero or more infrastructure endpoints), and the client generates an endpoint that is compatible with one of the service's endpoints.
An endpoint describes in a standard-based way where messages should be sent, how they should be sent, and what the messages should look like. A service can expose this information as metadata that clients can process to generate appropriate WCF clients and communication stacks.
Communication Protocols
One required element of the communication stack is the transport protocol. Messages can be sent over intranets and the Internet using common transports, such as HTTP and TCP. Other transports are included that support communication with Message Queuing applications and nodes on a Peer Networking mesh. More transport mechanisms can be added using the built-in extension points of WCF.
Another required element in the communication stack is the encoding that specifies how any given message is formatted. WCF provides the following encodings:
· Text encoding, an interoperable encoding.
· Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM) encoding, which is an interoperable way for efficiently sending unstructured binary data to and from a service.
· Binary encoding for efficient transfer.
More encoding mechanisms (for example, a compression encoding) can be added using the built-in extension points of WCF.
Message Patterns
WCF supports several messaging patterns, including request-reply, one-way, and duplex communication. Different transports support different messaging patterns, and thus affect the types of interactions that they support. The WCF APIs and runtime also help you to send messages securely and reliably.
WCF Terms
Other concepts and terms used in the WCF documentation include the following.
message
A self-contained unit of data that can consist of several parts, including a body and headers.
service
A construct that exposes one or more endpoints, with each endpoint exposing one or more service operations.
endpoint
A construct at which messages are sent or received (or both). It comprises a location (an address) that defines where messages can be sent, a specification of the communication mechanism (a binding) that described how messages should be sent, and a definition for a set of messages that can be sent or received (or both) at that location (a service contract) that describes what message can be sent.
A WCF service is exposed to the world as a collection of endpoints.
application endpoint
An endpoint exposed by the application and that corresponds to a service contract implemented by the application.
infrastructure endpoint
An endpoint that is exposed by the infrastructure to facilitate functionality that is needed or provided by the service that does not relate to a service contract. For example, a service might have an infrastructure endpoint that provides metadata information.
address
Specifies the location where messages are received. It is specified as a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). The URI schema part names the transport mechanism to use to reach the address, such as HTTP and TCP. The hierarchical part of the URI contains a unique location whose format is dependent on the transport mechanism.
The endpoint address enables you to create unique endpoint addresses for each endpoint in a service or, under certain conditions, to share an address across endpoints. The following example shows an address using the HTTPS protocol with a non-default port:
binding
Defines how an endpoint communicates to the world. It is constructed of a set of components called binding elements that "stack" one on top of the other to create the communication infrastructure. At the very least, a binding defines the transport (such as HTTP or TCP) and the encoding being used (such as text or binary). A binding can contain binding elements that specify details like the security mechanisms used to secure messages, or the message pattern used by an endpoint. For more information, see Configuring Services.
binding element
Represents a particular piece of the binding, such as a transport, an encoding, an implementation of an infrastructure-level protocol (such as WS-ReliableMessaging), or any other component of the communication stack.
behaviors
A component that controls various run-time aspects of a service, an endpoint, a particular operation, or a client. Behaviors are grouped according to scope: common behaviors affect all endpoints globally, service behaviors affect only service-related aspects, endpoint behaviors affect only endpoint-related properties, and operation-level behaviors affect particular operations. For example, one service behavior is throttling, which specifies how a service reacts when an excess of messages threaten to overwhelm its handling capabilities. An endpoint behavior, on the other hand, controls only aspects that are relevant to endpoints, such as how and where to find a security credential.
system-provided bindings
WCF includes a number of system-provided bindings. These are collections of binding elements that are optimized for specific scenarios. For example, the WSHttpBinding is designed for interoperability with services that implement various WS-* specifications. These predefined bindings save time by presenting only those options that can be correctly applied to the specific scenario. If a predefined binding does not meet your requirements, you can create your own custom binding.
configuration versus coding
Control of an application can be done either through coding, through configuration, or through a combination of both. Configuration has the advantage of allowing someone other than the developer (for example, a network administrator) to set client and service parameters after the code is written and without having to recompile. Configuration not only enables you to set values like endpoint addresses, but also allows further control by enabling you to add endpoints, bindings, and behaviors. Coding allows the developer to retain strict control over all components of the service or client, and any settings done through the configuration can be inspected and if needed overridden by the code.
service operation
A procedure defined in a service's code that implements the functionality for an operation. This operation is exposed to clients as methods on a WCF client. The method can return a value, and can take an optional number of arguments, or take no arguments, and return no response. For example, an operation that functions as a simple "Hello" can be used as a notification of a client's presence and to begin a series of operations.
service contract
Ties together multiple related operations into a single functional unit. The contract can define service-level settings, such as the namespace of the service, a corresponding callback contract, and other such settings. In most cases, the contract is defined by creating an interface in the programming language of your choice and applying the ServiceContractAttribute attribute to the interface. The actual service code results by implementing the interface.
operation contract
An operation contract defines the parameters and return type of an operation. When creating an interface that defines the service contract, you signify an operation contract by applying the OperationContractAttribute attribute to each method definition that is part of the contract. The operations can be modeled as taking a single message and returning a single message, or as taking a set of types and returning a type. In the latter case, the system will determine the format for the messages that need to be exchanged for that operation.
message contract
Describes the format of a message. For example, it declares whether message elements should go in headers versus the body, what level of security should be applied to what elements of the message, and so on.
fault contract
Can be associated with a service operation to denote errors that can be returned to the caller. An operation can have zero or more faults associated with it. These errors are SOAP faults that are modeled as exceptions in the programming model.
data contract
The descriptions in metadata of the data types that a service uses. This enables others to interoperate with the service. The data types can be used in any part of a message, for example, as parameters or return types. If the service is using only simple types, there is no need to explicitly use data contracts.
hosting
A service must be hosted in some process. A host is an application that controls the lifetime of the service. Services can be self-hosted or managed by an existing hosting process.
self-hosted service
A service that runs within a process application that the developer created. The developer controls its lifetime, sets the properties of the service, opens the service (which sets it into a listening mode), and closes the service.
hosting process
An application that is designed to host services. These include Internet Information Services (IIS), Windows Activation Services (WAS), and Windows Services. In these hosted scenarios, the host controls the lifetime of the service. For example, using IIS you can set up a virtual directory that contains the service assembly and configuration file. When a message is received, IIS starts the service and controls its lifetime.
instancing
A service has an instancing model. There are three instancing models: "single," in which a single CLR object services all the clients; "per call," in which a new CLR object is created to handle each client call; and "per session," in which a set of CLR objects is created, one for each separate session. The choice of an instancing model depends on the application requirements and the expected usage pattern of the service.
client application
A program that exchanges messages with one or more endpoints. The client application begins by creating an instance of a WCF client and calling methods of the WCF client. It is important to note that a single application can be both a client and a service.
channel
A concrete implementation of a binding element. The binding represents the configuration, and the channel is the implementation associated with that configuration. Therefore, there is a channel associated with each binding element. Channels stack on top of each other to create the concrete implementation of the binding: the channel stack.
WCF client
A client-application construct that exposes the service operations as methods (in the .NET Framework programming language of your choice, such as Visual Basic or Visual C#). Any application can host a WCF client, including an application that hosts a service. Therefore, it is possible to create a service that includes WCF clients of other services.
A WCF client can be automatically generated by using the ServiceModel Metadata Utility Tool (Svcutil.exe) and pointing it at a running service that publishes metadata.
metadata
In a service, describes the characteristics of the service that an external entity needs to understand to communicate with the service. Metadata can be consumed by the ServiceModel Metadata Utility Tool (Svcutil.exe) to generate a WCF client and accompanying configuration that a client application can use to interact with the service.
The metadata exposed by the service includes XML schema documents, which define the data contract of the service, and WSDL documents, which describe the methods of the service.
When enabled, metadata for the service is automatically generated by WCF by inspecting the service and its endpoints. To publish metadata from a service, you must explicitly enable the metadata behavior.
security
In WCF, includes confidentiality (encryption of messages to prevent eavesdropping), integrity (the means for detection of tampering with the message), authentication (the means for validation of servers and clients), and authorization (the control of access to resources). These functions are provided by either leveraging existing security mechanisms, such as TLS over HTTP (also known as HTTPS), or by implementing one or more of the various WS-* security specifications.
transport security mode
Specifies that confidentiality, integrity, and authentication are provided by the transport layer mechanisms (such as HTTPS). When using a transport like HTTPS, this mode has the advantage of being efficient in its performance, and well understood because of its prevalence on the Internet. The disadvantage is that this kind of security is applied separately on each hop in the communication path, making the communication susceptible to a "man in the middle" attack.
message security mode
Specifies that security is provided by implementing one or more of the security specifications, such as the specification named Web Services Security: SOAP Message Security. Each message contains the necessary mechanisms to provide security during its transit, and to enable the receivers to detect tampering and to decrypt the messages. In this sense, the security is encapsulated within every message, providing end-to-end security across multiple hops. Because security information becomes part of the message, it is also possible to include multiple kinds of credentials with the message (these are referred to as claims). This approach also has the advantage of enabling the message to travel securely over any transport, including multiple transports between its origin and destination. The disadvantage of this approach is the complexity of the cryptographic mechanisms employed, resulting in performance implications.
transport with message credential security mode
Specifies the use of the transport layer to provide confidentiality, authentication, and integrity of the messages, while each of the messages can contain multiple credentials (claims) required by the receivers of the message.
WS-*
Shorthand for the growing set of Web Service (WS) specifications, such as WS-Security, WS-ReliableMessaging, and so on, that are implemented in WCF
Windows Communication Foundation Architecture
The following graphic illustrates the major layers of the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) architecture.
WCF Architecture
Contracts and Descriptions
Contracts define various aspects of the message system. The data contract describes every parameter that makes up every message that a service can create or consume. The message parameters are defined by XML Schema definition language (XSD) documents, enabling any system that understands XML to process the documents. The message contract defines specific message parts using SOAP protocols, and allows finer-grained control over parts of the message, when interoperability demands such precision. The service contract specifies the actual method signatures of the service, and is distributed as an interface in one of the supported programming languages, such as Visual Basic or Visual C#.
Policies and bindings stipulate the conditions required to communicate with a service. For example, the binding must (at a minimum) specify the transport used (for example, HTTP or TCP), and an encoding. Policies include security requirements and other conditions that must be met to communicate with a service.
Service Runtime
The service runtime layer contains the behaviors that occur only during the actual operation of the service, that is, the runtime behaviors of the service. Throttling controls how many messages are processed, which can be varied if the demand for the service grows to a preset limit. An error behavior specifies what occurs when an internal error occurs on the service, for example, by controlling what information is communicated to the client. (Too much information can give a malicious user an advantage in mounting an attack.) Metadata behavior governs how and whether metadata is made available to the outside world. Instance behavior specifies how many instances of the service can be run (for example, a singleton specifies only one instance to process all messages). Transaction behavior enables the rollback of transacted operations if a failure occurs. Dispatch behavior is the control of how a message is processed by the WCF infrastructure.
Extensibility enables customization of runtime processes. For example, message inspection is the facility to inspect parts of a message, and parameter filtering enables preset actions to occur based on filters acting on message headers.
Messaging
The messaging layer is composed of channels. A channel is a component that processes a message in some way, for example, by authenticating a message. A set of channels is also known as a channel stack. Channels operate on messages and message headers. This is different from the service runtime layer, which is primarily concerned about processing the contents of message bodies.
There are two types of channels: transport channels and protocol channels.
Transport channels read and write messages from the network (or some other communication point with the outside world). Some transports use an encoder to convert messages (which are represented as XML Infosets) to and from the byte stream representation used by the network. Examples of transports are HTTP, named pipes, TCP, and MSMQ. Examples of encodings are XML and optimized binary.
Protocol channels implement message processing protocols, often by reading or writing additional headers to the message. Examples of such protocols include WS-Security and WS-Reliability.
The messaging layer illustrates the possible formats and exchange patterns of the data. WS-Security is an implementation of the WS-Security specification enabling security at the message layer. The WS-Reliable Messaging channel enables the guarantee of message delivery. The encoders present a variety of encodings that can be used to suit the needs of the message. The HTTP channel specifies that the HyperText Transport Protocol is used for message delivery. The TCP channel similarly specifies the TCP protocol. The Transaction Flow channel governs transacted message patterns. The Named Pipe channel enables interprocess communication. The MSMQ channel enables interoperation with MSMQ applications.
Hosting and Activation
In its final form, a service is a program. Like other programs, a service must be run in an executable. This is known as a self-hosted service.
Services can also be hosted, or run in an executable managed by an external agent, such as IIS or Windows Activation Service (WAS). WAS enables WCF applications to be activated automatically when deployed on a computer running WAS. Services can also be manually run as executables (.exe files). A service can also be run automatically as a Windows service. COM+ components can also be hosted as WCF services
