How can we pass the class object as XML to WCF REST post METHOD?

Question

I have a scenario where I need to send the class object to the WCF REST method as input as given below .

[OperationContract]
        [WebInvoke(Method = "POST", UriTemplate = "/InsertContact", ResponseFormat = WebMessageFormat.Xml,
          RequestFormat = WebMessageFormat.Xml, BodyStyle = WebMessageBodyStyle.Wrapped)]
        int InsertContact(ContactType objContactType);

Getting the below error in the Fiddler

<Fault xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ws/2005/05/envelope/none"><Code><Value>Receiver</Value><Subcode><Value xmlns:a="http://schemas.microsoft.com/net/2005/12/windowscommunicationfoundation/dispatcher">a:InternalServiceFault</Value></Subcode></Code><Reason><Text xml:lang="en-US">Error in deserializing body of request message for operation 'InsertContact'. OperationFormatter encountered an invalid Message body. Expected to find node type 'Element' with name 'InsertContact' and namespace 'http://tempuri.org/'. Found node type 'Element' with name 'ContactType' and namespace ''</Text></Reason><Detail><ExceptionDetail xmlns="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/System.ServiceModel" xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><HelpLink i:nil="true"/><InnerException><HelpLink i:nil="true"/><InnerException i:nil="true"/><Message>OperationFormatter encountered an invalid Message body. Expected to find node type 'Element' with name 'InsertContact' and namespace 'http://tempuri.org/'. Found node type 'Element' with name 'ContactType' and namespace ''</Message><StackTrace>   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.DataContractSerializerOperationFormatter.DeserializeBody(XmlDictionaryReader reader, MessageVersion version, String action, MessageDescription messageDescription, Object[] parameters, Boolean isRequest)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.OperationFormatter.DeserializeBodyContents(Message message, Object[] parameters, Boolean isRequest)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.OperationFormatter.DeserializeRequest(Message message, Object[] parameters)</StackTrace><Type>System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationException</Type></InnerException><Message>Error in deserializing body of request message for operation 'InsertContact'. OperationFormatter encountered an invalid Message body. Expected to find node type 'Element' with name 'InsertContact' and namespace 'http://tempuri.org/'. Found node type 'Element' with name 'ContactType' and namespace ''</Message><StackTrace>   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.OperationFormatter.DeserializeRequest(Message message, Object[] parameters)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.DemultiplexingDispatchMessageFormatter.DeserializeRequest(Message message, Object[] parameters)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.UriTemplateDispatchFormatter.DeserializeRequest(Message message, Object[] parameters)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.CompositeDispatchFormatter.DeserializeRequest(Message message, Object[] parameters)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.DispatchOperationRuntime.DeserializeInputs(MessageRpc&amp; rpc)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.DispatchOperationRuntime.InvokeBegin(MessageRpc&amp; rpc)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ImmutableDispatchRuntime.ProcessMessage5(MessageRpc&amp; rpc)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ImmutableDispatchRuntime.ProcessMessage41(MessageRpc&amp; rpc)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ImmutableDispatchRuntime.ProcessMessage4(MessageRpc&amp; rpc)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ImmutableDispatchRuntime.ProcessMessage31(MessageRpc&amp; rpc)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ImmutableDispatchRuntime.ProcessMessage3(MessageRpc&amp; rpc)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ImmutableDispatchRuntime.ProcessMessage2(MessageRpc&amp; rpc)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ImmutableDispatchRuntime.ProcessMessage11(MessageRpc&amp; rpc)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ImmutableDispatchRuntime.ProcessMessage1(MessageRpc&amp; rpc)&#xD;
   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.MessageRpc.Process(Boolean isOperationContextSet)</StackTrace><Type>System.ServiceModel.CommunicationException</Type></ExceptionDetail></Detail></Fault>

I want to make my REST API to accept either JSON or XML request depending on the client.Do I need to set this property in the WebInvoke attribute or in the web.config ?

Passing the below XML

<ContactType>
    <ContactTypeID>3</ContactTypeID>
    <Name>Assistant Sales Representative</Name>
    <ModifiedDate>2002-06-01T00:00:00</ModifiedDate>
 </ContactType>

Can anyone help me regarding this ?

Answer 1

The error pointed out the problem you have:

Expected to find node type 'Element' with name 'InsertContact' and namespace 'http://tempuri.org/'. Found node type 'Element' with name 'ContactType' and namespace ''

When you declare the BodyStyle of your WebInvoke to be Wrapped, it means that you must wrap the request body with the operation name (and appropriate XML namespace).

The code below shows one way to pass the value to your operation.

public class StackOverflow_23526051
{
    [ServiceContract]
    public interface ITest
    {
        [WebInvoke(Method = "POST", UriTemplate = "/InsertContact", ResponseFormat = WebMessageFormat.Xml,
          RequestFormat = WebMessageFormat.Xml, BodyStyle = WebMessageBodyStyle.Wrapped)]
        int InsertContact(ContactType objContactType);
    }
    public class Service : ITest
    {
        public int InsertContact(ContactType objContactType)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("objContactType: {0}", objContactType);
            return 0;
        }
    }

    [DataContract(Name = "ContactType", Namespace = "")]
    public class ContactType
    {
        [DataMember(Order = 1)]
        public int ContactTypeID { get; set; }

        [DataMember(Order = 2)]
        public string Name { get; set; }

        [DataMember(Order = 3)]
        public string ModifiedDate { get; set; }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return string.Format("ContactType[Id={0},Name={1},ModifiedDate={2}]", ContactTypeID, Name, ModifiedDate);
        }
    }

    public static void Test()
    {
        string baseAddress = "http://" + Environment.MachineName + ":8000/Service";
        WebServiceHost host = new WebServiceHost(typeof(Service), new Uri(baseAddress));
        host.Open();
        Console.WriteLine("Host opened");

        WebClient c = new WebClient();
        c.Headers.Add(HttpRequestHeader.ContentType, "text/xml");
        var xml = @"<t:objContactType>
            <ContactTypeID>3</ContactTypeID>
            <Name>Assistant Sales Representative</Name>
            <ModifiedDate>2002-06-01T00:00:00</ModifiedDate>
         </t:objContactType>";

        xml = "<t:InsertContact xmlns:t=\"http://tempuri.org/\">" + xml + "</t:InsertContact>";

        Console.WriteLine(c.UploadString(baseAddress + "/InsertContact", xml));
        Console.WriteLine();

        // To find out the request format: use the following 5 lines, look at Fiddler
        var factory = new WebChannelFactory<ITest>(new Uri(baseAddress));
        var proxy = factory.CreateChannel();
        proxy.InsertContact(new ContactType { ContactTypeID = 123, ModifiedDate = "the date", Name = "John Doe" });
        ((IClientChannel)proxy).Close();
        factory.Close();

        Console.Write("Press ENTER to close the host");
        Console.ReadLine();
        host.Close();
    }
}