Can I generate a service reference automatically for a REST WCF service?

Question

The ONLY argument I can see for SOAP WCF over REST (json) wcf is the fact that once my service is created I can add a a reference in visual studio and I get a load of strongly typed classes ready for me and a client class that I can call all my webmethod through. It even sets up the web.config as far as I remember.

However when I expose a REST (json) service I still get a WSDL. So Im wondering is there still a way to build my references automatically?

Have you tried adding a reference to the service the "old" way? [Code Table Example - Step 4](https://www.blackbaud.com/files/support/guides/infinitydevguide/Subsystems/inwebapi-developer-help/Content/InfinityWebAPI/coCodeTableExampleBizOps.htm). — Joshua Drake, Apr 19 '12 at 16:37

carlosfigueira · Answer 1 · 2013-07-10T15:48:45.343

4

Not using WCF tools. Unlike with SOAP (which has an established protocol for describing services - WSDL), REST doesn't. WADL is one such protocol, but it isn't too widespread and WCF does not support it. You still get a WSDL, because WCF will describe everything it can from the service. However, the WSDL won't have a <wsdl:port> element, which would describe the REST endpoint, which is why you get the WSDL, but cannot generate a reference to it.

The post at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/carlosfigueira/archive/2012/03/26/mixing-add-service-reference-and-wcf-web-http-a-k-a-rest-endpoint-does-not-work.aspx has a lot more info on this issue.

edited Jul 10 '13 at 15:48

answered Apr 19 '12 at 17:25

carlosfigueira

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Your example code in the linked thread is very helpful Carlos. Could I suggest you summarise here and include the code? – Stephen Kennedy Jul 10 '13 at 15:05
Expanded the answer with more details. – carlosfigueira Jul 10 '13 at 15:48

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 10 '20 at 16:52

Very old question, newer answer.

today using openapi (swagger) I can achieve this by using swagger inspector doing samples i can document my rest services as well as create a spec yml/json file allowing for validations and acceptance criteria as well as automated clients for java,python,c#,ruby,javascript and others I'm sure

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 22 '14 at 15:52

I would like top elaborate:

Although it is true you cannot get a WSDL add service reference with a JSON REST WCF service, what I do is create two met data hooks:

is the operations returning JSON
is a single XML op returning a class wrapper which includes all the service classes I allow, I call it Discover:

i.e.

public class Discover
{
  public Manager Manager {get;}
  public Employee Emp {get;}
  ....
}

[OperationContract]
public Discover DiscoverDTOs()

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 29 '19 at 09:45

You can, indirectly. While the client generated by Visual Studio won't work, that client implements an interface, also generated, that you can use like this:

WebChannelFactory<IService> factory = new WebChannelFactory<IService>(new Uri(endpointAddress));

IService proxy = factory.CreateChannel();

int result = proxy.Operation(1, 2, 3);

WebChannelFactory has another overload which accepts a WebHttpBinding, you can configure based on the service configuration, or you can make this configuration manually in your app.config file.

Can I generate a service reference automatically for a REST WCF service?

4 Answers4

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