calling wcf webservice using basichttpbinding without REST or JSON

Question

I have a wcf webservice that is exposed through wsHTTPBinding and basicHTTPBinding. The latter specifies it's endpoint address as being "/basic" as in the following:

    <endpoint address="/basic" binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="theAwesomeBasicHttpServerBinding" contract="LOServices.Proxy.ServiceContracts.ILOService">
      <identity>
        <servicePrincipalName value="HTTP/MY_MACHINE_NAME" />
      </identity>
    </endpoint>

the binding is defined as follows:

  <basicHttpBinding>
    <binding name="theAwesomeBasicHttpServerBinding" maxReceivedMessageSize="5000000">
      <security mode="TransportCredentialOnly">
        <transport clientCredentialType="Windows" />
      </security>
    </binding>
  </basicHttpBinding>

I am trying to call one of the webmethods using jquery. Because this is over a basicHTTPBinding and not RESTful, therefore, I will not be using JSON. I consequently am building the request XML from a previous (successful) call that I made to the service through wcf test client:

<s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <s:Header>
    <Action s:mustUnderstand="1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ws/2005/05/addressing/none">http://tempuri.org/ILOService/GetLoanActions</Action>
  </s:Header>
  <s:Body>
    <GetLoanActions xmlns="http://tempuri.org/">
      <request xmlns:d4p1="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/LOServices.Proxy.Requests" xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
        <d4p1:AssociationNumber>3</d4p1:AssociationNumber>
        <d4p1:IgnoreWarnings>false</d4p1:IgnoreWarnings>
      </request>
    </GetLoanActions>
  </s:Body>
</s:Envelope>

The actual javascript that I am using therefore is structured as follows:

        function callWs() {
            var theRequest = " \
<s:Envelope xmlns:s=\"http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/\"> \
  <s:Header> \
    <Action s:mustUnderstand=\"1\" xmlns=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/ws/2005/05/addressing/none\">http://tempuri.org/ILOService/GetLoanActions</Action> \
  </s:Header> \
  <s:Body> \
    <GetLoanActions xmlns=\"http://tempuri.org/\"> \
      <request xmlns:d4p1=\"http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/LOServices.Proxy.Requests\" xmlns:i=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance\"> \
        <d4p1:AssociationNumber>3</d4p1:AssociationNumber> \
        <d4p1:IgnoreWarnings>false</d4p1:IgnoreWarnings> \
      </request> \
    </GetLoanActions> \
  </s:Body> \
</s:Envelope>";

            $.ajax({
                type: "POST",
                url: "http://localhost/LOServices/Services/LOService.svc/basic",
                data: theRequest,
                timeout: 10000,
                contentType: "text/xml",
                dataType: "xml",
                async: false
            });
        }

I'm unfortunate enough to receive a "Bad Request" from the wcf service when I run it in this fashion, however, and that doesn't leave me with much to follow up on.

I've been struggling to try to make this work for at least 3 hours now, so if anyone has ideas, please feel free to jump in with some suggestions.

Thanks.

Answer 1

For BasicHttpBinding requests, you need to set the SOAPAction header in the HTTP request (that will define which operation should receive the message).

$.ajax({
      type: "POST",
      url: "http://localhost/LOServices/Services/LOService.svc/basic",
      data: theRequest,
      timeout: 10000,
      contentType: "text/xml",
      dataType: "xml",
      async: false,
      headers: { "SOAPAction": "http://tempuri.org/Contract/Operation" }
    });

Notice that the headers option is new in jQuery 1.5, so if you're using an older one, you'll need to use the beforeSend function for that.

Also, you should be able to get more information in the future for errors such as "Bad Request" or "Internal Server Error" by enabling tracing for WCF - the trace will contain more detailed information about the problem.