Is there an alternative to SVCUTIL.EXE for generating WCF Web service proxies?

Question

Am I missing something or is there truly no alternative (yet, I hope) to SVCUTIL.EXE for generating WCF Web service proxies?

Answer 1

If you're looking for a command-line alternative or standalone GUI then no - I don't know of any.

However, if you're wondering about usage while developing in VS, VS2008's add service reference is an alternative that can save you some headache.

Answer 2

Doh. I was reading old docs and just realized that the Add Service Reference does the grunge for you. THank you!

Answer 3

I would strongly suggest that you look through the auto generated configurations before just using them, the autogenerated stuff is full of garbage. Try looking at this article by Miquel Castro: http://www.devx.com/codemag/Article/39837

Answer 4

I usually just use a ChannelFactory for a given interface. Provided the interface has the adequate WCF attributes, it should work fairly well. Here's a client example for a duplex channel:

DuplexChannelFactory<IServerWithCallback> cf = 
        new DuplexChannelFactory<IServerWithCallback>(
            new CallbackImpl(), 
            new NetTcpBinding(), 
            new EndpointAddress("net.tcp://localhost:9080/DataService"));