DataContract doesn't work after publish into web site - silverlight

I tried to solve by myself, but... Looks like I need help from people.
I have Business Silverlight application with WCF RIA and EntityFramework. Access to Database I get via LinqToEntites.
Common loading data from database I making by this:
return DbContext.Customers
This code returns full Customers table from DataBase. But sometimes I do not need to show all data. Easy way is use linq filters in client side by next code:
public LoadInfo()
{
...
var LO1 = PublicDomainContext.Load(PublicDomainContext.GetCustomersQuery());
LO1.Completed += LO1Completed;
...
}
private void LO1Completed(object sender, EventArgs eventArgs)
{
...
DatatViewGrid.ItemsSource = null;
DatatViewGrid.ItemsSource = loadOperation.Entities.Where(c=>c ...filtering...);
//or PublicDomainContext.Customers.Where(c=>c ...filtering...)
...
}
However this way has very and very important flaw: all data passing from server to client side via DomainService may be viewed by applications like Fiddler. So I need to come up with another way.
Task: filter recieving data in server side and return this data.
Way #1: LinqToEntites has a beautiful projection method:
//MSDN Example
var query =
contacts.SelectMany(
contact => orders.Where(order =>
(contact.ContactID == order.Contact.ContactID)
&& order.TotalDue < totalDue)
.Select(order => new
{
ContactID = contact.ContactID,
LastName = contact.LastName,
FirstName = contact.FirstName,
OrderID = order.SalesOrderID,
Total = order.TotalDue
}));
But, unfortunately, DomainServices cannot return undefined types, so this way won't work.
Way #2: I found next solution - make separate DTO classes (DataTransferObject). I just read some samples and made on the server side next class:
[DataContract]
public partial class CustomerDTO
{
[DataMember]
public int ISN { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string FIO { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string Listeners { get; set; }
}
And based this class I made a row of methods which return filtered data:
[OperationContract]
public List<CustomerDTO> Customers_Common()
{
return DbContext.Customers....Select(c => new CustomerDTO { ISN = c.ISN, FIO = c.FIO, Listeners = c.Listeners }).ToList();
}
And this works fine, all good...
But, there is strange problem: running application locally does not affect any troubles, but after publishing project on the Web Site, DomainService returns per each method HTTP 500 Error ("Not Found" exception). Of course, I cannot even LogIn into my application. DomainService is dead. If I delete last class and new methods from application and republish - all works fine, but without speacial filtering...
The Question: what I do wrong, why Service is dying with new classes, or tell me another way to solve my trouble. Please.
U P D A T E :
Hey, finally I solved this!
There is an answer: Dynamic query with WCF RIA Services

Your best shot is to find out what is causing the error. For that, override the OnError method on the DomainService like this:
protected override void OnError(DomainServiceErrorInfo errorInfo)
{
/* Log the error info to a file. Don't forget inner exceptions.
*/
base.OnError(errorInfo);
}
This is useful, because only two exceptions will be passed to the client, so if there are a lot of nested inner exceptions, you should still be able to see what actually causes the error.
In addition, you can inspect the error by attaching the debugger to the browser instance you are opening the site with. In VS2010 this is done by doing [Debug] -> [Attach to Process] in the menu-bar.

Related

EntityFramework unit test example

I just solved my own question, but thought I'd might still be helpful for others to read so decided to post it anyway.
I am trying to get started with azure development and am currently at the stage of getting the database up and running. After a few hickups I achieved the following:
installed VS2012, MSSQLSERVER2012, Azure SDK .NET, EntityFramework 6.0.0 alpha and a bunch of other things
wrote my first entities (code first) and generated a database out of it.
The last thing I'd like to see before I pick up the next challenge is to actually add something to my newly created database first. I'd thought the easiest way would be writing a test in nunit.
Here's what I got so far...
The entity class User:
namespace Models.Users
{
public class User
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string EmailAddress { get; set; }
}
}
The entity class UsersDb:
using System.Data.Entity;
namespace Models.Users
{
public class UsersDb : DbContext
{
public DbSet<User> Users { get; set; }
}
}
Generated the database with the following PS commands:
enable-migrations -ProjectName Models -ContextTypeName Models.Users.UsersDb
add-migration -ProjectName Models Initial
update-database -ProjectName Models
Finally, I wrote the following unit test
using Models.Users;
using NUnit.Framework;
namespace Tests
{
[TestFixture]
public class DatabaseTests
{
[Test]
public void AddUserTest()
{
var users = new UsersDb();
var user = new User
{
Id = 1,
Name = "test",
EmailAddress = "test#gmail.com"
};
users.Users.Add(user);
users.SaveChanges();
}
}
}
That test runs, but throws an exception I can't figure out.
System.InvalidOperationException : The Entity Framework provider type 'System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, EntityFramework.SqlServer, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' for the 'System.Data.SqlClient' ADO.NET provider could not be loaded. Make sure the provider assembly is available to the running application. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=260882 for more information.
Solution
What I had to do to solve this, is open NuGet management (right click solution) and press the manage button on EntityFramework. In the dialog add a checkbox in front of your test solution, rebuild and go.
Now, I have a very small solution that creates a new user via a unit test and saves it into my database. A nice startup project which I can now start extending.
Solved the question while typing the question itself. Thought i'd still be useful as a reference for others.

Silverlight Enabled WCF Service Exception Handling

I've got a Silverlight enabled WCF web service set up and I'm connecting to it from my Silverlight application.
The Service is not written using the ASync pattern but Silverlight generates the async methods automatically.
I have a method that within my service that has a chance of throwing an exception I can catch this exception but I'm not sure of the best way of handling this exception, I've noticed that the event args of the completed method contain an error property.
Is is possible to set the value of this error property?
Example Method
public class service
{
[OperationContract]
public Stream getData(string filename)
{
string filepath = HostingEnvironment.MapPath(filename);
FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(filenpath);
try
{
Stream s = fi.Open(FileMode.Open);
return s;
}
catch (IOException e)
{
return null;
}
}
}
Silverlight Code
btnFoo_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
ServiceClient svc = new ServiceClient();
svc.getDataCompleted += new EventHandler<getDataCompletedEventArgs>(getData_Completed);
svc.getDataAsync("text.txt");
}
void getData_Completed(object sender, getDataCompletedEventArgs e)
{
e.Error //how can i set this value on the service?
}
Finally if the service is offline or times out is there anyway to catch this exception before it reaches the UnhandledException method within App.xaml?
Thanks
Since silverlight is using services asyncronously you dont get a synchronous exception throw, but instead it is stored in e.Error property, that you need to check in your ServiceCallCompleted method.
To answer your question
how can i set this value on the service?
Simply throw an exception on server and it can be enough given several other conditions.
You may want to introduce FaultContract on your WCF service method, and throw FaultException<T> which is a common way to deal with errors in WCF.
However fault result in return code 500 and silverlight won't be able to get response with such status code and have access to Fault object, even if you add that attribute to service.
This can be solved using several approaches.
Use the alternative client HTTP stack: You can register an alternative HTTP stack by using the RegisterPrefix method. See below for an outline of how to do this. Silverlight 4 provides the option of using a client HTTP stack which, unlike the default browser HTTP stack, allows you to process SOAP-compliant fault messages. However, a potential problem of switching to the alternative HTTP stack is that information stored by the browser (such as authentication cookies) will no longer be available to Silverlight, and thus certain scenarios involving secure services might stop working, or require additional code to work.
Modify the HTTP status code: You can modify your service to return SOAP faults with an HTTP status code of 200, Silverlight 4 so that faults will be processed successfully. How to do this is outlined below. Note that this will make the service non-compliant with the SOAP protocol, because SOAP requires a response code in the 400 or 500 range for faults. If the service is a WCF service, you can create an endpoint behavior that plugs in a message inspector that changes the status code to 200. Then you can create an endpoint specifically for Silverlight consumption, and apply the behavior there. Your other endpoints will still remain SOAP-compliant.
Faults in silverlight
Creating and Handling Faults in Silverlight
OR
[DataContract]
public class MyError
{
[DataMember]
public string Code { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string Message { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public DateTime Time { get; set; }
}
public class service
{
[OperationContract]
public Stream getData(string filename, out MyError myError)
{
myError = null;
string filepath = HostingEnvironment.MapPath(filename);
FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(filenpath);
try
{
Stream s = fi.Open(FileMode.Open);
return s;
}
catch (IOException e)
{
myError = new MyError() { Code = "000", Message = ex.Message, Time = DateTime.Now };
return null;
}
}
}
I wish successful projects

Silverlight4 calling ASMX web service

I have a Visual Studio solution with a Silverlight project, and a web project which hosts the Silverlight app. The web project also contains an ASMX web service which is called by the Silverlight ap.
As described below, certain calls to the web service work fine, and yet others cause a CommunicationException to be thrown, wrapping a WebException - both with the message "The server returned the following error: 'not found'".
Firstly, here's my original method, which failed as described above (entity names changed for simplicity):
[WebMethod]
public Customer GetCustomer(int id)
{
CustomerDataContext dc = new CustomerDataContext();
return dc.Customers.SingleOrDefault(x => x.Id == id);
}
Secondly, to debug the problem I took Linq to SQL and the database out of the picture, and the below code worked fine:
[WebMethod]
public Customer GetCustomer(int id)
{
Customer c = new Customer() { ID=1, Name="Bob", History = new EntitySet<CustomerHistory>() };
return c;
}
Third, thinking about this, one difference between the two methods is that the first one would include values in the customer history. I extended the second method to include this, and it started failing again:
[WebMethod]
public Customer GetCustomer(int id)
{
Customer c = new Customer() { ID=1, Name="Bob", History = new EntitySet<CustomerHistory>() };
c.History.Add(new CustomerHistory() { Id=1, CustomerId=1, Text="bla" });
return c;
}
I'm stuck with regards to how to progress - my current thinking is that this could be a deserialization issue on the Silverlight side, when the object graph is deeper. This rationally doesn't make sense, but I can't think of anything else. I've confirmed that the transfer size and buffer size are big enough (2GB by default).
Any pointers would be appreciated.
Ahhhh the famous "Not Found" error, try to get details from that error using the tag in your web.config. That will create a log file providing details of the error.
The following link explains exaclty how to do it :
http://blogs.runatserver.com/lppinson/post/2010/04/15/Debugging-WCF-Web-Services.aspx

Unable to return collections or arrays from JAX-WS Web Service

I found that I was unable to return collections from my JAX-WS Web Service.
I appreciate that the Java Collections API may not be supported by all clients, so I switched to return an array, but I can't seem to do this either.
I've set up my web service as follows:
#WebService
public class MyClass {
public ReturnClass[] getArrayOfStuff() {
// extremely complex business logic... or not
return new ReturnClass[] {new ReturnClass(), new ReturnClass()};
}
}
And the ReturnClass is just a POJO. I created another method that returns a single instance, and that works. It just seems to be a problem when I use collections/arrays.
When I deploy the service, I get the following exception when I use it:
javax.xml.bind.MarshalException - with linked exception:
[javax.xml.bind.JAXBException: [LReturnClass; is not known to this context]
Do I need to annotate the ReturnClass class somehow to make JAX-WS aware of it?
Or have I done something else wrong?
I am unsure of wheter this is the correct way to do it, but in one case where I wanted to return a collection I wrapped the collection inside another class:
#WebService
public class MyClass {
public CollectionOfStuff getArrayOfStuff() {
return new CollectionOfStuff(new ReturnClass(), new ReturnClass());
}
}
And then:
public class CollectionOfStuff {
// Stuff here
private List<ReturnClass> = new ArrayList<ReturnClass>();
public CollectionOfStuff(ReturnClass... args) {
// ...
}
}
Disclaimer: I don't have the actual code in front of me, so I guess my example lacks some annotations or the like, but that's the gist of it.

Is possible in WCF service: method return IList<object> when object can be Person class?

Is possible in WCF service: method return IList when object can be Person class?
Ex: in IServiceContract.cs
[ServiceContract]
public interface IDAS
{
[OperationContract]
void DoWork();
[OperationContract]
List<object> GetAnyClass();
}
And class:
public class DAS : IDAS
{
public void DoWork()
{
}
public List<object> GetAnyClass()
{
List<Person> a = new List<Person>();
a.Add(new Person());
return a;
}
}
The problem at runtime is:
System.ServiceModel.CommunicationException: The server did not provide a meaningful reply; this might be caused by a contract mismatch, a premature session shutdown or an internal server error
Theoretically yes, although you need to tell the service that it might be expecting a Person object using the KnownTypeAttribute on your method.
[OperationContract]
[KnownType(typeof(Person))]
List<object> GetAnyClass();
I would really think twice about doing this in practice though - instead declare different method signatures for the objects you're expecting to return:
[OperationContract]
IList<Person> GetPeople();
[OperationContract]
Person GetPerson();
[OperationContract]
IList<Book> GetBooks();
[OperationContract]
Book GetBook();
etc.
It's supposed to be a contract, i.e. concrete, so if you suddenly change the type of class you return it can really mess the clients up.
Also in your example you were returning a concrete List class - this should be avoided, instead use either IList<> or Collection<>.
Yes it is possible, you need to update the reference in Visual Studio (or whatever you are using to generate the proxy class with) and change the collection type returned. There is an option in 'Configure Service Reference' and you can select Generic.List in there (right click your WCF service reference).
The mismatch is because you have changed your service on the server end and not got a new proxy. So change it to return a Generic.List and then regenerate using the steps in 1.
Hope that helps
Ryan
You can return an IList but it's definitly not a good approach to take.
When you expose your services you need people at the other end of the service to know what they are getting.
IList<Person> would be clearer for everybody that use the services or that code in the services.
If you need a method that can return different type of object just split them out in multiple operations.
IList<Person> GetPersons(...)
IList<Animal> GetAnimals(...)
My 2 cents.
Cheva (et al),
There is nothing stopping you from calling a single method to fill in the collection(s) you return from the service calls.
IList<Person> GetPersons(...)
IList<Animal> GetAnimals(...)
Both GetPersons() and GetAnimals() can certainly call an internal method e.g.
IList<Animal> GetAnimals(...)
{
// get list of objects of a given type
internalIList<Object> genericResults = GetItems(
ItemType.Persons|ItemType.Animals );
...
IList<Animal> results;
// convert to specific type
results = new IList<Animal>(genericResults);
return results;
}
That should work, but I didn't test it or anything. YMMV. ; )
-Scott

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