What datatype will have the least amount of overhead when transmitted over WCF

Question

I have a WCF webservice that needs to return data in table form, basically just columns and rows of simple text. Right now, I am using a datatable but that is giving me headaches. Would another type such as a 2D array of strings work effectively well, maybe even better? What datatype would be best with the least amount of complications?

Answer 1

When SvcUtil.exe generates a proxy for clients, it generally converts most 2D array of strings into simple string arrays (string[]).

This would simplify the client proxy generation for you.

I would use the list that provided the optimal services for you. For example, if you will be iterating one after the other, a normal array may be fine. If you will need to sort it, perhaps a generic list may be more appropriate.

Answer 2

Since bandwidth seems to be the issue (previous questions etc)...

If the data is simple text strings, then things like GZIP compression may work wonders. I would be very tempted to investigate transforming the DataTable into something as simple as tsv (or another delimited form), and run it through a GZipStream (encoding line by line). Then send the resultant binary down the wire either as a Stream or a byte[]. And enable MTOM.