System.ServiceModel.Web .NET Core

Question

I'm porting a .NET Framework application into .NET Core. I've added via NuGet System.ServiceModel.Web but it seem not work. I need an alternativ to "WebGet":

[ServiceContract]
public interface IChannelsApi
{
    [WebGet(UriTemplate = "", ResponseFormat = WebMessageFormat.Json), OperationContract]
    List<Channel> GetChannels();

    [WebGet(UriTemplate = "{name}", ResponseFormat = WebMessageFormat.Json), OperationContract]
    Channel GetChannel(string name);

}

What I have to do?

Answer 1

As @Thomas noted, WebGet has been long superseded with much better frameworks for creating REST APIs. If you haven't already, go and create a new .Net Core Web Api project in VS2015 / VS2017, run it, then see how it differs to the old WCF method. You'll notice that a lot less boilerplate code and decorating is required. Here's a rundown of some differences between WCF and ASP.NET Web API, and .Net Core is really just the next generation of this.

Below is a more comprehensive example of some code from a working controller class. If required, you can abstract this into an interface, but there's probably no point . Also notice the lack of [ServiceContract] and [OperationContract] decorations, among other things. Just specify the [Route(...)] (optional - if the controller doesn't conform to the default route), and the method and Uri path using [HttpGet(...)] , etc.

This code also assumes a few things such as dependencies being registered with the DI container ( ILogger and ICustomerRepository ). Note that .Net Core has dependency injection built in, which is a nice feature ( Quick rundown ).

Finally, I also recommend using Swagger if you are not already. I'm late to the party on this one but have been using it lately and it is a boon for API development (the extensive commenting below assists in making Swagger more useful):

    [Route("api/[controller]")]
    public class CustomersController : Controller
    {
        ILogger<CustomersController> log;
        ICustomerRepository customerRepository;

        public CustomersController(ILogger<CustomersController> log, ICustomerRepository customerRepository)
        {
            this.log = log;
            this.customerRepository = customerRepository;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Get a specific customer 
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="customerId">The id of the Customer to get</param>
        /// <returns>A customer  with id matching the customerId param</returns>
        /// <response code="200">Returns the customer </response>
        /// <response code="404">If a customer  could not be found that matches the provided id</response>
        [HttpGet("{customerId:int}")]
        [ProducesResponseType(typeof(ApiResult<Customer>), 200)]
        [ProducesResponseType(typeof(ApiResult), 404)]
        public async Task<IActionResult> GetCustomer([FromRoute] int customerId)
        {
            try
            {
                return Ok(new ApiResult<Customer>(await customerRepository.GetCustomerAsync(customerId)));
            }
            catch (ResourceNotFoundException)
            {
                return NotFound(new ApiResult($"No record found matching id {customerId}"));
            }
        }
    }

Answer 2

System.ServiceModel.Web is not supported on .NET Standard or .NET Core. This is especially true for the deprecated WCF technology stack in general.

Luckily for you, the WebGet concept of WCF is an attempt to cover HTTP REST interfaces by the WCF stack. That however was ultimately superseded by ASP.NET WebApi and later ASP.NET Core.

Use ASP.NET Core to create the same interface.