Remoting (part 2, advanced), WCF

WCF improves code concepts substantially. There are templates like “WCF Service Application” in Visual Studio making programming extremely easy. You get results with a few clicks.
I am concentrating on an independent code solution today. This basically is a similar solution to my remoting example in part 1. You can clearly see the differences rather than starting an entirely new project type.

We need two App.config files.
One on the client side

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
	<system.serviceModel>

    <client>
      <endpoint name="ServerInstance" address="net.tcp://localhost/ServerInstance" binding="netTcpBinding" bindingConfiguration="tcp_Unsecured" contract="Shared.MyInterface"/>
		</client>
    <bindings>
      <netTcpBinding>
        <binding name="tcp_Unsecured">
          <security mode="None" />
        </binding>
      </netTcpBinding>
    </bindings>
    
  </system.serviceModel>
</configuration>

and one on the server-side.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>

  <system.serviceModel>

    <services>
      <service name="Server.ServerInstance">
        <endpoint address="net.tcp://localhost/ServerInstance" binding="netTcpBinding" bindingConfiguration="tcp_Unsecured" contract="Shared.MyInterface" />
      </service>
    </services>
    <bindings>
      <netTcpBinding>
        <binding name="tcp_Unsecured">
          <security mode="None" />
        </binding>
      </netTcpBinding>
    </bindings>
  </system.serviceModel>
</configuration>

I guess you have already noticed the Shared.MyInterface. This is the same approach as in the classical Remoting. We share data definitions.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ServiceModel;

namespace Shared {
   [ServiceContract(SessionMode = SessionMode.Allowed)]
   public interface MyInterface {
      [OperationContract]
      List<TradeData> GetTrades();
      [OperationContract]
      string HelloWorld(string xName);
      [OperationContract]
      DateTime Ping();     
   } // interface

} // namespace

The shared area also needs our TradeData class, which is used inside the Interface. Do not forget the Serializable attribute. You do not necessarily get an error message. The program can simply refuse proper execution and only provide mind-boggling error messages.

using System;

namespace Shared {

   [Serializable]
   public class TradeData {
      public DateTime tradeTime;
      public string ticker;
      public double price;
      public int quantity;

      public override string ToString() {
         return tradeTime.ToString("dd.MMM.yy HH:mm:ss ") + ticker + " " + quantity + " @ " + price + " EUR";
      } //

      public TradeData(DateTime xTradeTime, string xTicker, double xPrice, int xQuantity) {
         tradeTime = xTradeTime;
         ticker = xTicker;
         price = xPrice;
         quantity = xQuantity;
      } // constructor

   } // class
} // namespace

The class ServerInstance is part of the server-side. It inherits MyInterface and adds the required statements of MyInterface.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ServiceModel;
using Shared;

namespace Server {
   [ServiceBehavior(InstanceContextMode = InstanceContextMode.PerCall)]
   internal class ServerInstance : MyInterface {

      public List<TradeData> GetTrades() {
         DateTime lDummyTime = new DateTime(2014, 02, 12, 16, 30, 10);
         TradeData lTrade1 = new TradeData(lDummyTime, "DTE", 11.83, 100);
         TradeData lTrade2 = new TradeData(lDummyTime.AddSeconds(2), "DAI", 66.45, 300);
         TradeData lTrade3 = new TradeData(lDummyTime.AddSeconds(5), "DBK", 35.91, 100);
         return new List<TradeData>() { lTrade1, lTrade2, lTrade3 };
      } //

      public string HelloWorld(string xName) {
         return "Hello " + xName;
      } //

      public DateTime Ping() {
         return DateTime.Now;
      } //

   } // class  
} // namespace

The server side code is relatively short. It is more or less a two liner to instantiate a ServiceHost and open it.

using System;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.Threading;

namespace Server {
   public class Program {
      
      public static void Main(string[] arguments) {

         Thread.Sleep(10000); // we let the client wait 10 seconds to simulate a server that is down

         using (ServiceHost lServiceHost = new ServiceHost(typeof(ServerInstance))) {
            lServiceHost.Open();

            Console.WriteLine("Service is available.");
            Console.ReadKey();
         }
      } // main

   } // class
} // namespace

And the client side is not much longer. Have a look for yourself. Most of the lines are taking care of printing the data to the console window.

using System;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.ServiceModel.Channels;
using System.Threading;
using Shared;

namespace Client {
   public class Program {

      public static void Main(string[] args) {

         ChannelFactory<MyInterface> lFactory = new ChannelFactory<MyInterface>("ServerInstance");

         MyInterface lShared = null;
         while (true) {
            try {
               lShared = lFactory.CreateChannel();                              

               var o = lShared.GetTrades();
               var s = lShared.HelloWorld("Mr. Ohta");
               var p = lShared.Ping();

               Console.WriteLine("GetTrades():");
               foreach (var lTrade in o) Console.WriteLine(lTrade.ToString());
               Console.WriteLine();
               Console.WriteLine("HelloWorld(): " + s);
               Console.WriteLine();
               Console.WriteLine("Ping(): " + p);

               break;
            }
            catch (Exception ex) {
               Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
               Thread.Sleep(2000);
            }
            finally {
               IChannel lChannel = lShared as IChannel;
               if (lChannel.State == CommunicationState.Opened) lChannel.Close();
            }
         }

         Console.ReadKey();
      } // main

   } // class
} // namespace

After starting the client and server concurrently,

you should get output results like these:

SERVER example output:
Service is available.

CLIENT example output:
Could not connect to net.tcp://localhost/ServerInstance. The connection attempt
lasted for a time span of 00:00:02.0521174. TCP error code 10061: No connection
could be made because the target machine actively refused it 127.0.0.1:808.
Could not connect to net.tcp://localhost/ServerInstance. The connection attempt
lasted for a time span of 00:00:02.0391166. TCP error code 10061: No connection
could be made because the target machine actively refused it 127.0.0.1:808.
GetTrades():
12.Feb.14 16:30:10 DTE 100 @ 11.83 EUR
12.Feb.14 16:30:12 DAI 300 @ 66.45 EUR
12.Feb.14 16:30:15 DBK 100 @ 35.91 EUR

HelloWorld(): Hello Mr. Ohta

Ping(): 17/02/2014 12:30:59

The error messages on the client side are as expected. They are caused by “Thread.Sleep(10000);” on the server side. I thought it would be interesting to show a server which is not running at the time when starting the client.

Put aside all the complex and confusing examples on the internet. This one here is spot on. It provides a nice and comfortable entry point into WCF. The code does not have to be complex.
I recommend YouTube for further WCF explanations.

Remoting (part 1, basics), old school

Before I come to the new WCF style Remoting, I would like to introduce the good old System.Runtime.Remoting namespace.
Remoting is a convenient way to call methods across the network. You don’t have to write messages to trigger methods on the server, wait for results and then analyse feedback messages on the client side. What could be easier than calling server methods directly?

The downside is the slowness and the missing encryption. Nevertheless, if you don’t have many server requests then Remoting is probably the right solution for you. The ease is hard to beat.

We need a library to share the syntax between the server and client. In practice you would compile the following code into a library and implement it on both sides. Don’t be lazy and only share the source code. This cannot work, because two compilers generate two different system object IDs.

In today’s example we are running the code in one Visual Studio process. We are also using the localhost. This is why we do not need an external library on both sides. We are using the same compiler object ID.
The class MarshalByRefObject enables Remoting access to objects across application domain boundaries. We need to inherit this class.

public abstract class RemotingShared : MarshalByRefObject {

   public const string RemotingName = "MyRemotingName";
   public const string ServerIpAddress = "127.0.0.1";
   public const int Port = 65432;


   [Serializable]
   public class TradeData {
      public DateTime tradeTime;
      public string ticker;
      public double price;
      public int quantity;
         
      public override string ToString() {
         return tradeTime.ToString("dd.MMM.yy HH:mm:ss ") + ticker + " " + quantity + " @ " + price + " EUR";
      } //

      public TradeData(DateTime xTradeTime, string xTicker, double xPrice, int xQuantity) {
         tradeTime = xTradeTime;
         ticker = xTicker;
         price = xPrice;
         quantity = xQuantity;
      } // constructor

   } // class

   public abstract List<TradeData> GetTrades();
   public abstract string HelloWorld(string xName);
   public abstract DateTime Ping();      
} // class

The server overrides methods of the abstract class RemotingShared by inheriting it. We do not need to create any instance. This is done in the background by the Remoting process. The option WellKnownObjectMode.Singleton makes sure that only one instance will be created and reused. WellKnownObjectMode.SingleCall would create new instances for each incoming message.

public class RemotingSharedDerived : RemotingShared {

   public override List<RemotingShared.TradeData> GetTrades() {
      DateTime lDummyTime = new DateTime(2014, 02, 12, 16, 30, 10) ;
      RemotingShared.TradeData lTrade1 = new TradeData(lDummyTime, "DTE", 11.83, 100);
      RemotingShared.TradeData lTrade2 = new TradeData(lDummyTime.AddSeconds(2), "DAI", 66.45, 300);
      RemotingShared.TradeData lTrade3 = new TradeData(lDummyTime.AddSeconds(5), "DBK", 35.91, 100);
      return new List<TradeData>() { lTrade1, lTrade2, lTrade3 };
   } //

   public override string HelloWorld(string xName) {
      return "Hello " + xName;
   } //

   public override DateTime Ping() { 
      return DateTime.Now; 
   } //
} // class

public static void StartServer() {
   TcpChannel lTcpChannel = new TcpChannel(RemotingShared.Port);
   ChannelServices.RegisterChannel(lTcpChannel, true);
   Type lRemotingSharedType = typeof(RemotingSharedDerived);
   RemotingConfiguration.ApplicationName = RemotingShared.RemotingName + "App";
   RemotingConfiguration.RegisterWellKnownServiceType(lRemotingSharedType, RemotingShared.RemotingName, WellKnownObjectMode.Singleton);         
} //

Let’s have a look at the client now. As usual I kept the code as short as possible. Personally I do not like example programs that include too much redundant information, they can be quite confusing sometimes.
As we are on the localhost, the server has registered a ‘tcp’ channel already. We check if it exists although we already know it does. But the example program would throw an exception otherwise. Keep it in the code, it does make sense when you are remoting between two different IP addresses.

public static void StartClient() {
   string lPath = "tcp://" + RemotingShared.ServerIpAddress + ":" + RemotingShared.Port + "/" + RemotingShared.RemotingName;
   TcpChannel lTcpChannel = new TcpChannel();

   if (!ChannelServices.RegisteredChannels.Any(lChannel => lChannel.ChannelName == lTcpChannel.ChannelName)) {
      ChannelServices.RegisterChannel(lTcpChannel, true);
   }

   RemotingShared lShared = (RemotingShared)Activator.GetObject(typeof(RemotingShared), lPath);
   var o = lShared.GetTrades();
   var s = lShared.HelloWorld("Mr. Ohta");
   var p = lShared.Ping();

   Console.WriteLine("GetTrades():");
   foreach (var lTrade in o) Console.WriteLine(lTrade.ToString());
   Console.WriteLine();
   Console.WriteLine("HelloWorld(): " + s);
   Console.WriteLine();
   Console.WriteLine("Ping(): " + p);
} //

Let’s run the code now.

public static void Test() {
   RemotingServer.StartServer();
   RemotingClient.StartClient();
   Console.WriteLine("\nPress any key to exit.");
   Console.ReadKey();
} //

example output:
GetTrades():
12.Feb.14 16:30:10 DTE 100 @ 11.83 EUR
12.Feb.14 16:30:12 DAI 300 @ 66.45 EUR
12.Feb.14 16:30:15 DBK 100 @ 35.91 EUR

HelloWorld(): Hello Mr. Ohta

Ping(): 12/02/2014 20:36:55

Press any key to exit.