Generate a WCF Client or WCF Service Contract for SQL Server Artifacts

You can use the Add Adapter Service Reference Visual Studio Plug-in to generate a WCF client class targeted at selected operations on SQL Server artifacts. You can also use the ServiceModel Metadata Utility Tool (svcutil.exe) to generate the WCF client class; however, the Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in exposes the functionality of the ServiceModel Metadata Utility Tool through a standard Microsoft Windows interface. It also provides browse and search capabilities that are not available with the svcutil.exe tool, and generates a configuration file based on the binding properties that you select when you connect to the SQL Server database.

Generating a WCF Client Class by Using the Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in

Perform the following steps to generate a WCF client class by using the Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in.

1. In Visual Studio Solution Explorer, right-click your project, and then click Add Adapter Service Reference.

2. After the Add Adapter Service Reference dialog box opens, follow the steps in Get metadata for SQL Server operations in Visual Studio using the SQL adapter to connect to SQL Server and to browse and search for operations. To create a WCF client class for the operations that you select, be sure that Client (Outbound operations) is selected from the Select contract type drop-down list. (This is the default).

3. After you select all of the operations that you want to target, click OK to generate the WCF client class.

   The Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in adds two files to your project:

• The WCF client code file. This file contains the generated WCF client class and helper code for the operations that you selected. The first time you run the Add Adapter Service Reference Visual Studio Plug-in, it will generate this file with the default name SQLAdapterBindingClient.cs. If you run it again, the next file it generates will be called SQLAdapterBindingClient1.cs. The number suffix will increase by 1 for every new file you generate. You can also change the default prefix SQLBinding by entering a different prefix in the Filename prefix field of the Add Adapter Service Reference Visual Studio Plug-in before selecting OK to generate the file.

• App.config. This file contains a binding configuration and client endpoint configurations that are based on the selections you made when you configured the connection for the Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in.

  Important

  While using the Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in, if you do not specify a value for a binding property of type string and whose default value is null then that binding property will not be available in the app.config file. You must manually add the binding property and its value in the app.config file, if required.

Generating a WCF Service Contract by Using the Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in

For inbound operations such as polling the SQL Server database or receiving notifications from the database, the SQL adapter either executes a query specified by the client application (in case of polling) or registers a query with SQL Server (in case of notification). In both the scenarios, the adapter sends the inbound message from SQL Server database to the consuming. In such a case, the consuming application acts as a service and the SQL adapter acts as the client. You must, therefore, implement a WCF service that can receive inbound operations from the adapter. To do this, you use the Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in to generate a .NET interface that represents the service contract that is surfaced by the adapter for the inbound operations. This .NET interface is also called a WCF service contract. You then implement this interface to create the WCF service that you can use to receive the inbound operations.

Perform the following steps to generate a WCF service contract by using the Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in.

To generate a WCF service contract for inbound operations

1. In Visual Studio Solution Explorer, right-click your project, and then click Add Adapter Service Reference.

2. After the Add Adapter Service Reference dialog box opens, follow the steps in Connect to SQL Server in Visual Studio Using Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in to connect to the SQL Server database.

   Important

   If you are generating WCF service contract for TypedPolling inbound operation, you must specify the InboundID as part of the connection URI and PollingStatement binding property.

3. After you have connected to the SQL Server database, select Service (Inbound operations) from the Select contract type drop-down list.

4. In the Select a category box, click the root node (/), select the inbound operation from the Available categories and operations box, and then click Add.

5. To generate the WCF service contract for the inbound operation, click OK.

   The Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in adds three files to your project:

• SqlAdapterBindingInterface.cs. This file contains the generated WCF service contract (interface) and helper code for the inbound operation.

• SqlAdapterBindingService.cs. This file contains a class that implements the interface defined in SqlAdapterBindingInterface.cs. You can implement the business logic that processes the records returned by the inbound operation.

• app.config. This file contains a binding configuration, endpoint behaviors, and service endpoint configuration that are based on the selections you made when you configured the binding and connection for the Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in.

  Important

  While using the Add Adapter Service Reference Plug-in, if you do not specify a value for a binding property of type string and whose default value is null then that binding property will not be available in the app.config file. You must manually add the binding property and its value in the app.config file, if required.

Generating a WCF Client Class by Using svcutil.exe

You can use svcutil.exe to generate a WCF client class for your application. You must configure svcutil.exe to use it with the SQL adapter.

Svcutil.exe generates the WCF client class in an output file with a default file name of output.cs. You must manually include this file in your Visual Studio project. For more information about svcutil.exe, see ServiceModel Metadata Utility Tool (Svcutil.exe).

See Also

Develop SQL applications using the WCF Service model