<binding>
You can use the binding element to configure different types of predefined bindings provided by Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).
System-Provided Binding
System-provided bindings hide the complexity of the WCF messaging stack. Applications using system-provided bindings do not require full control over the stack. The attributes exposed on each system-provided binding are the ones most appropriate for the usage scenario the binding addresses.
The configuration section for each system-provided binding can define several configurations used to configure the binding. Each configuration is identified by a unique name.
It is not possible to add elements or attributes to a system-provided binding. To do so, you should implement a custom binding as described in the "Custom Binding" section of this topic. It is possible to define a custom binding that mimics a system-provided binding perfectly and adds a few settings the user application wants to have control over.
Custom Binding
Custom bindings provide full control over the WCF messaging stack. An individual binding defines the message stack by specifying the configuration elements for the stack elements in the order they appear on the stack. Each element defines and configures the one element of the stack. There must be one and only one transport element in each custom binding. Without this element, the messaging stack is incomplete.
The order in which elements appear in the stack matters, because it is the order in which operations are applied to the message. The recommended order of stack elements is the following:
Transactions (optional)
Reliable Messaging (optional)
Security (optional)
Transport
Encoder (optional)
Custom bindings are identified by their name attribute.
See Also
Reference
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