Part 22 - Configure WCF service endpoint dynamically in code

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We can configure an endpoint for WCF service in 2 ways
1. Declaratively using the configuration file
2. Dynamically in code



First let's look at configuring an endpoint for the HelloService declaratively using the config file. 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<configuration>

  <system.serviceModel>

    <behaviors>

      <serviceBehaviors>

        <behavior name="mexBehaviour">

          <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true" />

        </behavior>

      </serviceBehaviors>

    </behaviors>

    <services>

      <service name="HelloService.HelloService" behaviorConfiguration="mexBehaviour">

        <endpoint address="HelloService" binding="netTcpBinding" contract="HelloService.IHelloService">

        </endpoint>

        <host>

          <baseAddresses>

            <add baseAddress="http://localhost:8080/" />

            <add baseAddress="net.tcp://localhost:8090"/>

          </baseAddresses>

        </host>

      </service>

    </services>

  </system.serviceModel>

</configuration>

The above configuration
1. Configures HelloService to be available at the address net.tcp://localhost:8090/HelloService
2. Makes use of netTcpBinding
3. Configures Service Behavior to enable metadata exchange for clients to generate proxy classes

Now let's look at adding the service endpoint dynamically in code. Here are the steps
Step 1: First delete the sections from the config file that are highlighted with yellow colour.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<configuration>

  <system.serviceModel>

    <behaviors>

      <serviceBehaviors>

        <behavior name="mexBehaviour">

          <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true" />

        </behavior>

      </serviceBehaviors>

    </behaviors>

    <services>

      <service name="HelloService.HelloService" behaviorConfiguration="mexBehaviour">

        <endpoint address="HelloService" binding="netTcpBinding" contract="HelloService.IHelloService">

        </endpoint>

        <host>

          <baseAddresses>

            <add baseAddress="http://localhost:8080/" />

            <add baseAddress="net.tcp://localhost:8090"/>

          </baseAddresses>

        </host>

      </service>

    </services>

  </system.serviceModel>

</configuration>

Step 2: In the Main() method in Program.cs file(in the Host project), include the lines highlighted with yellow color.
public static void Main()
{
    using (System.ServiceModel.ServiceHost host = new
        System.ServiceModel.ServiceHost(typeof(HelloService.HelloService)))
    {
        host.Description.Behaviors.Add(new ServiceMetadataBehavior { HttpGetEnabled = true });
        host.AddServiceEndpoint(typeof(HelloService.IHelloService), 
            new NetTcpBinding(), "HelloService");
        host.Open();
        Console.WriteLine("Host started @ " + DateTime.Now.ToString());
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}

Please make sure to include the following using declarations in Program.cs file.
using System;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.ServiceModel.Description;