Why returning dataset or data table from WCF service is not a good practice? What are the Alternatives?

Question

I am working on University Management System on which I am using a WCF service and in the service I am using DataTables and DataSets for getting data from database and database is sql server.

My questions are

Is using DataTables and Datasets "Good Practice" or "Bad Practice" ?
If it is bad, what is the alternative of DataTable/DataSet ?
If it is bad, what are the main reasons ?

[Returning DataSets from WebServices is the Spawn of Satan and Represents All That Is Truly Evil in the World](http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ReturningDataSetsFromWebServicesIsTheSpawnOfSatanAndRepresentsAllThatIsTrulyEvilInTheWorld.aspx) By SCOTT HANSELMAN — Habib, Sep 16 '14 at 16:46
Are you using them *in* the service or *outside* by for example returning them? — nvoigt, Sep 16 '14 at 16:49
What is the responsibility of the service you are building, do you know (and have control) over the clients? — Jocke, Sep 16 '14 at 19:36
@nvoigt: I am using DataTables/DataSets inside as well as Outside — Khurram Ali, Sep 19 '14 at 11:41

Seymour · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-18T16:07:16.607

Returning data sets from web services is not typically considered a “good practice”. The issues have been documented thoroughly in the following links:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163751.aspx
https://web.archive.org/web/20210125131938/https://www.4guysfromrolla.com/articles/051805-1.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc188755.aspx

In summary, the biggest issues with returning DataSet objects from web services seem to involve serialization performance, non-.net interoperability. In addition, the generic, polymorphic nature of the DataSet generally high the data structure until runtime, as such, the WSDL definition does not provide a complete description of the method signature. As with any design decision, however, you need to weigh the costs vs the benefits and determine the best fit given your specific goals and constraints.

In terms of alternatives, you could consider using a generic collection (e.g. List<yourClassHere>) or maybe even consider some architecture revisions to permit the use of ODATA.

The following links provide some good background reference for returning entities via web services. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/orm-9780596520281-01-14.aspx http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/127395/Implementing-a-WCF-Service-with-Entity-Framework http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/hh237663.aspx

+1 but please give a brief overview of what's in those links. — John Saunders, Sep 16 '14 at 20:32
Can you provide me some example on Collections or any link ?? — Khurram Ali, Sep 17 '14 at 11:08
@Seymour : Using DataSet/DataTable the interoperability of WCF service other then .Net Platform will remain or not? — Khurram Ali, Sep 19 '14 at 12:09
In general, I think a WCF service that returns a DataSet presents interoperability issues/challenges for other platforms. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1752072/wcf-and-java-interop — Seymour, Sep 19 '14 at 13:36

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 02 '16 at 06:00

1

There are 3 reason for failed return type as datatable in WCF services

You have to specify data table name like:
```
MyTable=new DataTable("tableName");
```
When you are adding reference on client side of WCF service select reusable dll system.data

Specify attribute on datatable member variable like

[DataMember]
public DataTable MyTable{ get; set; }

edited Dec 02 '16 at 06:00

Gokhan Kurt

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answered Dec 02 '16 at 05:03

Mukesh Methaniya

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score -1 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 10 '17 at 21:35

I am using DataTable in my WCF application, but was getting an error. This is how I fixed the error.

When returning a DataTable from a web service in WCF to windows form application. I was getting this exception.

System.ServiceModel.CommunicationException: 'An error occurred while receiving the HTTP response to http://localhost:52968/MunerahService1.svc. This could be due to the service endpoint binding not using the HTTP protocol. This could also be due to an HTTP request context being aborted by the server (possibly due to the service shutting down). See server logs for more details.'

It happened any time I tried to retrieve a DataTable

To fix the exception I needed to give the DataTable a name.

code with the error

 tab = new DataTable();

Fixed code to remove the excption

 tab = new DataTable("Doctor_info");

This does not really answer the original question or does it? — pirho, Dec 10 '17 at 20:01

Why returning dataset or data table from WCF service is not a good practice? What are the Alternatives?

3 Answers3

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