How to: Create a Service Endpoint in Configuration

How to: Create a Service Endpoint i...

This page is specific to

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

Endpoints provide clients access to the functionality a Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service offers. You can define one or more endpoints for a service by using a combination of relative and absolute endpoint addresses.

Example

The following service configuration specifies a base address and five endpoints.

Xml

<configuration>

  <appSettings>
    <!-- use appSetting to configure base address provided by host -->
    <add key="baseAddress" value="http://localhost:8000/servicemodelsamples/service" />
  </appSettings>

  <system.serviceModel>
    <services>
      <service 
          name="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.CalculatorService"
          behaviorConfiguration="CalculatorServiceBehavior">
        <host>
          <baseAddresses>
            <add baseAddress="http://localhost:8000/ServiceModelSamples/service"/>
          </baseAddresses>
        </host>
        <endpoint address=""
                  binding="wsHttpBinding"
                  contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
        <endpoint address="/test"
                  binding="wsHttpBinding"
                  contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
        <endpoint address="http://localhost:8001/hello/servicemodelsamples"
                  binding="wsHttpBinding"
                  contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
        <endpoint address="net.tcp://localhost:9000/servicemodelsamples/service"
                  binding="netTcpBinding"
                  contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
        <!-- the mex endpoint is another reltive address explosed at 
             http://localhost:8000/ServiceModelSamples/service/mex -->
        <endpoint address="mex"
                  binding="mexHttpBinding"
                  contract="IMetadataExchange" />
      </service>
    </services>

    <!--For debugging purposes set the includeExceptionDetailInFaults attribute to true-->
    <behaviors>
      <serviceBehaviors>
        <behavior name="CalculatorServiceBehavior">
          <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="True"/>
          <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="False" />
        </behavior>
      </serviceBehaviors>
    </behaviors>

  </system.serviceModel>

</configuration>

The base address is specified using the add element, under service/host/baseAddresses, as shown in the following sample.

Xml

<service 
    name="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.CalculatorService"
    behaviorConfiguration="CalculatorServiceBehavior">
  <host>
    <baseAddresses>
      <add baseAddress="http://localhost:8000/ServiceModelSamples/service"/>
    </baseAddresses>
  </host>

The first endpoint definition shown in the following sample specifies a relative address, which means the endpoint address is a combination of the base address and the relative address following the rules of Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) composition. The relative address is empty (""), so the endpoint address is the same as the base address. The actual endpoint address is http://localhost:8000/servicemodelsamples/service.

Xml

<endpoint address=""
          binding="wsHttpBinding"
          contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />

The second endpoint definition also specifies a relative address, as shown in the following sample configuration. The relative address, "test", is appended to the base address. The actual endpoint address is http://localhost:8000/servicemodelsamples/service/test.

Xml

<endpoint address="/test"
          binding="wsHttpBinding"
          contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />

The third endpoint definition specifies an absolute address, as shown in the following sample configuration. The base address plays no role in the address. The actual endpoint address is http://localhost:8001/hello/servicemodelsamples.

Xml

<endpoint address="http://localhost:8001/hello/servicemodelsamples"
          binding="wsHttpBinding"
          contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />

The fourth endpoint address specifies an absolute address and a different transport—TCP. The base address plays no role in the address. The actual endpoint address is net.tcp://localhost:9000/servicemodelsamples/service.