Message Class
[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]
Represents the unit of communication between endpoints in a distributed environment.
Assembly: System.ServiceModel (in System.ServiceModel.dll)
The Message type exposes the following members.
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
 | Headers | When overridden in a derived class, gets the headers of the message. |
 | IsDisposed | Returns a value that indicates whether the Message is disposed. |
| IsEmpty | Returns a value that indicates whether the Message is empty. |
| IsFault | Gets a value that indicates whether this message generates any SOAP faults. |
| Properties | When overridden in a derived class, gets a set of processing-level annotations to the message. |
| State | Gets the current state of this Message. |
| Version | When overridden in a derived class, gets the SOAP and WS-Addressing versions of the message. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
 | Close | Closes the Message and releases any resources. |
 | CreateMessage(MessageVersion, String) | Creates a message that contains a version and an action. |
| CreateMessage(MessageVersion, String, Object) | Creates a message with the specified version, action and body. |
| CreateMessage(MessageVersion, String, BodyWriter) | Creates a message with a body that consists of an array of bytes. |
| CreateMessage(MessageVersion, String, XmlDictionaryReader) | Creates a message with the specified version, action and body. |
| CreateMessage(MessageVersion, String, XmlReader) | Creates a message using the specified reader, action and version. |
| CreateMessage(MessageVersion, String, Object, XmlObjectSerializer) | Creates a message using the specified version, action, message body and serializer. |
| Equals(Object) | Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
 | Finalize | Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before the Object is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.) |
| GetBody<T>() | Retrieves the body of this Message instance. |
| GetBody<T>(XmlObjectSerializer) | Retrieves the body of this Message using the specified serializer. |
| GetBodyAttribute | Retrieves the attributes of the message body. |
| GetHashCode | Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.) |
| GetReaderAtBodyContents | Gets the XML dictionary reader that accesses the body content of this message. |
| GetType | Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.) |
| MemberwiseClone | Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
| OnBodyToString | Called when the message body is converted to a string. |
| OnClose | Called when the message is closing. |
| OnGetBodyAttribute | Called when the attributes of the message body is retrieved. |
| OnGetReaderAtBodyContents | Called when an XML dictionary reader that can access the body content of this message can be retrieved. |
| OnWriteBodyContents | Called when the message body is written to an XML file. |
| OnWriteMessage | Called when the entire message is written to an XML file. |
| OnWriteStartBody | Called when the start body is written to an XML file. |
| OnWriteStartEnvelope | Called when the start envelope is written to an XML file. |
| OnWriteStartHeaders | Called when the start header is written to an XML file. |
| ToString | Returns a string that represents the current Message. (Overrides Object::ToString().) |
| WriteBody(XmlDictionaryWriter) | Writes the body element using the specified XmlDictionaryWriter. |
| WriteBody(XmlWriter) | Serializes the message body using the specified XmlWriter. |
| WriteBodyContents | Serializes the body content using the specified XmlDictionaryWriter. |
| WriteMessage(XmlDictionaryWriter) | Serializes the entire message using the specified XmlDictionaryWriter. |
| WriteMessage(XmlWriter) | Serializes the entire message using the specified XmlWriter. |
| WriteStartBody(XmlDictionaryWriter) | Serializes the start body using the specified XmlDictionaryWriter. |
| WriteStartBody(XmlWriter) | Serializes the start body using the specified XmlDictionaryWriter. |
| WriteStartEnvelope | Serializes the start envelope using the specified XmlDictionaryWriter. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
  | IDisposable::Dispose | Closes all the resources used by this message. This method cannot be inherited. |
The Message class provides a means of communicating arbitrary information between a sender and a receiver on a network. It can be used to relay information, suggest or demand a course of action, or request data.
The structure of a Message object represents a SOAP envelope. It consists of two distinct parts: the message's body and an optional collection of headers, represented by the Headers class. The message content is application-defined data sent from a sender to a receiver. The message headers enable system and application extensibility to meet the changing requirements, because you can define code to manipulate and respond to specific headers. You can also define your own headers. Message headers are serialized or deserialized along with the contents of the message.
Messages are received and sent in particular formats. Support is provided for one format: the standard text-based XML format. The Message object can be used to represent the SOAP 1.1 envelope. Note that an instance of Message is fixed upon creation and is bound to a specific SOAP version. The Version property represents the SOAP version of the message.
A Message object can be serialized to an external store by using the WriteMessage method. Properties of the message can also be serialized, but they have to be individually identified and serialized separately. Deserializing a message to create an in-memory Message object can be done using CreateMessage. Properties must also be deserialized individually and manually added to the property collection for the specific Message instance.
The size of a Message object is fixed to the size of data it is transmitting. Every body is modeled as an instance of XmlReader, with no predefined limit on the size of the stream that the XmlReader instance is wrapping. However, specific channel providers can have a limit on the size of messages that they process.
A Message can be annotated with useful information generated by an entity that has examined and processed the message. This functionality is provided by the Headers and Properties properties. The Headers collection represents the set of SOAP headers on the message.
The Properties property represents the set of processing-level annotations on the message. Because information in headers is transmitted on the wire, an entity that examines a header must support the underlying version(s) of the protocols used by the header. However, properties provide a more version-independent way of annotating a message.
To create a Message instance, use one of the CreateMessage methods.
It is recommended that an accessor of a message always call Close when the accessor is finished accessing the contents of the message. This action frees finite system resources (for example, sockets, and named pipes) that are tied to the lifetime of the message.
Notes to InheritorsWhen you inherit from Message, you must override the following members: Headers, and Version.