Error Reporting in WCF Service?

Question

I have a self hosted Net Tcp WCF service and I have the following method

        Subscribtion GetSubscribtion(int subscribtionId)
        {
            Subscribtion s;
            if (_subscribtionTable.TryGetValue(subscribtionId, out s) == false)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Not Found SessionID");//for debugging
                throw new ArgumentException("Invalid Subscription Id");
            }
            return s;
        }

Is throwing exception is a good practice for reporting erros in service programming?

Answer 1

Since WCF inherently can be interoperable with non-.NET platforms, using Exceptions which is a strict .NET construct is a bad idea. It will also usually break your WCF connection, if you have one (e.g. in a session scenario).

The way to go is using interoperable SOAP faults that are transportable even to non-.NET clients.

Marc

Answer 2

In WCF you should instead be defining and throwing a FaultException. The following articles provide examples and details:

• Exception Handling in WCF Web Service
• Developing a WCF Service - Fault Exceptions AND FAULT Contracts
• Specifying and Handling Faults in Contracts and Services (MSDN)