Question

I have a set of web service methods returning a ActionResult class holding the following properties:

object returnValue
bool success
string message

the returnValue is used to hold different types of return values depending on the web methods used.

The problem I have on the client is that if a web method is returning an internal class in the returnValue I can’t cast it due to the client don’t recognize the type.

I can fejk methods to be able to expose the class “Issue” I need.

Ex:

Issue ExposeIssueType()
{
    return null;
}

But isn’t there any other way?

Answer 1

While I’m waiting for your answer to my comment, I’ll tell you that this is a very bad web service design. Each web service operation should return the data it is meant to return. There is no point in creating a class that can hold all possible return values.

Additionally, you should not be using a string message to return errors from a web service. The SOAP protocol has a “SOAP Fault” mechanism for that purpose.

Since you’re using WCF, you have complete support for SOAP Faults. Example:

In the service contract:

[FaultContract(typeof(GeneralFault))]
[OperationContract]
int Divide(int a, int b);

In the service:

public int Divide(int a, int b)
{
    if (b == 0)
    {
        throw new FaultException<GeneralFault>(
            new GeneralFault {Message = "Attempt to divide by zero"});
    }

    return a / b; // Note - operation can focus on its job
}

Data contract for the data returned in the fault:

[DataContract]
public class GeneralFault
{
    [DataMember]
    public string Message {get;set;}
}