How to: Create a Service Endpoint in Configuration

Endpoints provide clients access to the functionality a Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service offers. You can define one or more endpoints for a service by using a combination of relative and absolute endpoint addresses.

Example

The following service configuration specifies a base address and five endpoints.

<configuration>

  <appSettings>
    <!-- use appSetting to configure base address provided by host -->
    <add key="baseAddress" value="https://localhost:8000/servicemodelsamples/service" />
  </appSettings>

  <system.serviceModel>
    <services>
      <service 
          name="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.CalculatorService"
          behaviorConfiguration="CalculatorServiceBehavior">
        <host>
          <baseAddresses>
            <add baseAddress="https://localhost:8000/ServiceModelSamples/service"/>
          </baseAddresses>
        </host>
        <endpoint address=""
                  binding="wsHttpBinding"
                  contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
        <endpoint address="/test"
                  binding="wsHttpBinding"
                  contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
        <endpoint address="https://localhost:8001/hello/servicemodelsamples"
                  binding="wsHttpBinding"
                  contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
        <endpoint address="net.tcp://localhost:9000/servicemodelsamples/service"
                  binding="netTcpBinding"
                  contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
        <!-- the mex endpoint is another reltive address explosed at 
             https://localhost:8000/ServiceModelSamples/service/mex -->
        <endpoint address="mex"
                  binding="mexHttpBinding"
                  contract="IMetadataExchange" />
      </service>
    </services>

    <!--For debugging purposes set the includeExceptionDetailInFaults attribute to true-->
    <behaviors>
      <serviceBehaviors>
        <behavior name="CalculatorServiceBehavior">
          <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="True"/>
          <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="False" />
        </behavior>
      </serviceBehaviors>
    </behaviors>

  </system.serviceModel>

</configuration>

The base address is specified using the add element, under service/host/baseAddresses, as shown in the following sample.

<service 
    name="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.CalculatorService"
    behaviorConfiguration="CalculatorServiceBehavior">
  <host>
    <baseAddresses>
      <add baseAddress="https://localhost:8000/ServiceModelSamples/service"/>
    </baseAddresses>
  </host>

The first endpoint definition shown in the following sample specifies a relative address, which means the endpoint address is a combination of the base address and the relative address following the rules of Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) composition. The relative address is empty (""), so the endpoint address is the same as the base address. The actual endpoint address is https://localhost:8000/servicemodelsamples/service.

<endpoint address=""
          binding="wsHttpBinding"
          contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />

The second endpoint definition also specifies a relative address, as shown in the following sample configuration. The relative address, "test", is appended to the base address. The actual endpoint address is https://localhost:8000/servicemodelsamples/service/test.

<endpoint address="/test"
          binding="wsHttpBinding"
          contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />

The third endpoint definition specifies an absolute address, as shown in the following sample configuration. The base address plays no role in the address. The actual endpoint address is https://localhost:8001/hello/servicemodelsamples.

<endpoint address="https://localhost:8001/hello/servicemodelsamples"
          binding="wsHttpBinding"
          contract="Microsoft.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />

The fourth endpoint address specifies an absolute address and a different transport—TCP. The base address plays no role in the address. The actual endpoint address is net.tcp://localhost:9000/servicemodelsamples/service.

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Last Published: 2010-03-21