I am used to creating a .Net Framework console application and exposing a Add(int x, int y)
function via a WCF service from scratch with Class Library (.Net Framework). I then use the console application to proxy call this function within the server.
However if I use Console App (.Net Core) and a Class Library (.Net Core) the System.ServiceModel is not available. I have done some Googling but I haven't figured out what "replaces" WCF in this instance.
How do I expose a Add(int x, int y)
function within a class library to a console application all within .Net Core? I see System.ServiceModel.Web, and since this is trying to be cross platform do I have to create a RESTful service?
WCF is not supported in .NET Core since it's a Windows specific technology while .NET Core is supposed to be cross-platform.
If you are implementing inter-process communication consider trying this project out.
It allows creating services in WCF style:
Step 1 - Create service contract
public interface IComputingService
{
float AddFloat(float x, float y);
}
Step 2: Implement the service
class ComputingService : IComputingService
{
public float AddFloat(float x, float y)
{
return x + y;
}
}
Step 3 - Host the service in Console application
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// configure DI
IServiceCollection services = ConfigureServices(new ServiceCollection());
// build and run service host
new IpcServiceHostBuilder(services.BuildServiceProvider())
.AddNamedPipeEndpoint<IComputingService>(name: "endpoint1", pipeName: "pipeName")
.AddTcpEndpoint<IComputingService>(name: "endpoint2", ipEndpoint: IPAddress.Loopback, port: 45684)
.Build()
.Run();
}
private static IServiceCollection ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
return services
.AddIpc()
.AddNamedPipe(options =>
{
options.ThreadCount = 2;
})
.AddService<IComputingService, ComputingService>();
}
}
Step 4 - Invoke the service from client process
IpcServiceClient<IComputingService> client = new IpcServiceClientBuilder<IComputingService>()
.UseNamedPipe("pipeName") // or .UseTcp(IPAddress.Loopback, 45684) to invoke using TCP
.Build();
float result = await client.InvokeAsync(x => x.AddFloat(1.23f, 4.56f));
You can use gRPC for hosting web services inside .NET core application.
![](https://www.manongdao.com/static/images/pcload.jpg)
Introduction
- gRPC is a high performance, open source RPC framework initially developed by Google.
- The framework is based on a client-server model of remote procedure calls. A client application can directly call methods on a server application as if it was a local object.
Example
Server Code
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
RunAsync().Wait();
}
private static async Task RunAsync()
{
var server = new Grpc.Core.Server
{
Ports = { { "127.0.0.1", 5000, ServerCredentials.Insecure } },
Services =
{
ServerServiceDefinition.CreateBuilder()
.AddMethod(Descriptors.Method, async (requestStream, responseStream, context) =>
{
await requestStream.ForEachAsync(async additionRequest =>
{
Console.WriteLine($"Recieved addition request, number1 = {additionRequest.X} --- number2 = {additionRequest.Y}");
await responseStream.WriteAsync(new AdditionResponse {Output = additionRequest.X + additionRequest.Y});
});
})
.Build()
}
};
server.Start();
Console.WriteLine($"Server started under [127.0.0.1:5000]. Press Enter to stop it...");
Console.ReadLine();
await server.ShutdownAsync();
}
}
Client Code
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
RunAsync().Wait();
}
private static async Task RunAsync()
{
var channel = new Channel("127.0.0.1", 5000, ChannelCredentials.Insecure);
var invoker = new DefaultCallInvoker(channel);
using (var call = invoker.AsyncDuplexStreamingCall(Descriptors.Method, null, new CallOptions{}))
{
var responseCompleted = call.ResponseStream
.ForEachAsync(async response =>
{
Console.WriteLine($"Output: {response.Output}");
});
await call.RequestStream.WriteAsync(new AdditionRequest { X = 1, Y = 2});
Console.ReadLine();
await call.RequestStream.CompleteAsync();
await responseCompleted;
}
Console.WriteLine("Press enter to stop...");
Console.ReadLine();
await channel.ShutdownAsync();
}
}
Shared Classes between Client and Server
[Schema]
public class AdditionRequest
{
[Id(0)]
public int X { get; set; }
[Id(1)]
public int Y { get; set; }
}
[Schema]
public class AdditionResponse
{
[Id(0)]
public int Output { get; set; }
}
Service descriptors
using Grpc.Core;
public class Descriptors
{
public static Method<AdditionRequest, AdditionResponse> Method =
new Method<AdditionRequest, AdditionResponse>(
type: MethodType.DuplexStreaming,
serviceName: "AdditonService",
name: "AdditionMethod",
requestMarshaller: Marshallers.Create(
serializer: Serializer<AdditionRequest>.ToBytes,
deserializer: Serializer<AdditionRequest>.FromBytes),
responseMarshaller: Marshallers.Create(
serializer: Serializer<AdditionResponse>.ToBytes,
deserializer: Serializer<AdditionResponse>.FromBytes));
}
Serializer/Deserializer
public static class Serializer<T>
{
public static byte[] ToBytes(T obj)
{
var buffer = new OutputBuffer();
var writer = new FastBinaryWriter<OutputBuffer>(buffer);
Serialize.To(writer, obj);
var output = new byte[buffer.Data.Count];
Array.Copy(buffer.Data.Array, 0, output, 0, (int)buffer.Position);
return output;
}
public static T FromBytes(byte[] bytes)
{
var buffer = new InputBuffer(bytes);
var data = Deserialize<T>.From(new FastBinaryReader<InputBuffer>(buffer));
return data;
}
}
Output
Sample client output
Sample Server output
References
- https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/dotnet/2018/12/04/announcing-net-core-3-preview-1-and-open-sourcing-windows-desktop-frameworks/
- https://grpc.io/docs/
- https://grpc.io/docs/quickstart/csharp.html
- https://github.com/grpc/grpc/tree/master/src/csharp
Benchmarks
- http://csharptest.net/787/benchmarking-wcf-compared-to-rpclibrary/index.html
So from my research the best solution does not have the auto-generated proxy classes. This best solution is to create a RESTful service and to serialise the response body into model objects. Where the models are the usual model objects found in the MVC design pattern.
Thank you for your responses
There is a .NET Core port available: https://github.com/dotnet/wcf
It's still in preview, but they are actively developing it.