Windows Communication Foundation Service Library Project

Question

Hi

Do you know if there is any way to access the wsdl file when you create a WCF service library? It seems you can get it when you create a WCF application but not the service library...

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

Answer 1

The only way to access the WSDL is once you host and run the service. Otherwise, you cannot access it. So, create a host (or application as you are calling it) with a mex binding, then run the service and you should be able to access the WSDL.

Once you do this, you can save the WSDL as a file or something for later reference.

Answer 2

You cannot access the WSDL automatically. Of course if you compile the static WSDL into the service library, as a resource, you could then access it directly.

but what is it that you are trying to accomplish?

The "Service Description" is available inside a service. It is not the WSDL itself, but rather, the in-memory model of a service description. It includes the namespaces, the element names and types - everything in a WSDL, and more.

You can get at it with System.Web.Services.Description.ServiceDescription. Typically this is done within a ServiceHost, a ServiceHostFactory, or an IEndpointBehavior.