MetadataReference Class

Definition

Namespace:

System.ServiceModel.Description

Assembly:

System.ServiceModel.dll

Represents a reference to a metadata document returned from a metadata exchange endpoint.

public ref class MetadataReference : System::Xml::Serialization::IXmlSerializable

public class MetadataReference : System.Xml.Serialization.IXmlSerializable

type MetadataReference = class
    interface IXmlSerializable

Public Class MetadataReference
Implements IXmlSerializable

Inheritance

Object

MetadataReference

Implements

IXmlSerializable

Remarks

When using Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), a metadata endpoint can be created for any service. The endpoint can be queried for metadata that allows a client to communicate with the endpoint. For example, a metadata endpoint can return a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) document that describes the methods and data types of a service.

The MetadataReference class is used with WS-MetadataExchange responses where references are directly encoded as <mex:MetadataReference> or <mex:MetadataLocation>.

Metadata documents can reference many other documents that describe types and those documents can contain even more references. The MetadataReference class represents a single endpoint that returns a document that can itself contain multiple WSDL or XSD items as well as other metadata references to other WS-MetadataExchange endpoints.

Instances of the MetadataReference class are commonly used when processing a MetadataSet, which represents the total metadata exchange point. The MetadataResolver class is designed to resolve all references used to return the metadata. If, however, you need to examine each reference, use the MetadataReference class to represent each endpoint.

Specifications

WCF implements the Web Services Metadata Exchange (WS-MetadataExchange) specification for returning metadata. That specification further uses the Web Services Transfer (WS-Transfer) specification to define the mechanism for retrieving XML-based data.

Constructors

MetadataReference()	Initializes a new instance of the MetadataReference class.
MetadataReference(EndpointAddress, AddressingVersion)	Initializes a new instance of the MetadataReference class and specifies the network address and address version of the endpoint.

Properties

Address	Gets or sets the network address of a service that returns metadata.
AddressVersion	Gets or sets the version implemented in, or used by the endpoint.

Methods

Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object. (Inherited from Object)
GetHashCode()	Serves as the default hash function. (Inherited from Object)
GetType()	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object)
MemberwiseClone()	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object)
ToString()	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object)

Explicit Interface Implementations

IXmlSerializable.GetSchema()	Returns an XML schema document for the metadata reference endpoint.
IXmlSerializable.ReadXml(XmlReader)	Reads using the supplied reader object.
IXmlSerializable.WriteXml(XmlWriter)	Writes an XML stream with the specified writer object.