Question

I used XSD2Code to generate C# code from given XSD. This tool generated code snipped as below:

[System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("System.Xml", "4.0.30319.1")]
    [System.SerializableAttribute()]
    [System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("code")]
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTypeAttribute(AnonymousType = true)]
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlRootAttribute(Namespace = "", IsNullable = false)]
    public partial class Orders
    {

        [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute(Form = System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaForm.Unqualified, Order = 0)]
        public int OrderID {get;set;}
        [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute(Form = System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaForm.Unqualified, Order = 1)]
        public string Description {get;set;}
     }

Coud some one please guide me with following queires, please

1. If I leave the above code as it is, does WCF serializes the above class?
   Currently I’m getting this error on wcf test client: “”this Operation is not
   supported in WCF Test Client”.

2. Do I need to add DataContract and DataMember on top of the above generated codes?

3. Which option is beter between DataContract Serializer vs XML Serializer
   Thanks you.

Answer 1

1. It should work, as long as the contract (either the service contract interface or the operation contract method which uses this type) is marked with the [XmlSerializerFormat] attribute
2. No – if you decorate the contract with [XmlSerializerFormat], the DataContract/DataMember attributes are ignored (the XML serialization attributes, like the ones in this type, are used instead)
3. The XmlSerializer allows you to completely control the XML in which the types are serialized; the DataContractSerializer (DCS) doesn’t (it’s more limited). But the DCS has a better performance, so which one is better really depends on your scenario.

The code below shows a service which uses this type, and it works fine, even with the WcfTestClient.

public class StackOverflow_7155154
{
    [System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("System.Xml", "4.0.30319.1")]
    [System.SerializableAttribute()]
    [System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategoryAttribute("code")]
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlTypeAttribute(AnonymousType = true)]
    [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlRootAttribute(Namespace = "", IsNullable = false)]
    public partial class Orders
    {
        [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute(Form = System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaForm.Unqualified, Order = 0)]
        public int OrderID { get; set; }
        [System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElementAttribute(Form = System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaForm.Unqualified, Order = 1)]
        public string Description { get; set; }
    }
    [ServiceContract]
    [XmlSerializerFormat]
    public interface ITest
    {
        [OperationContract]
        Orders GetOrders();
    }
    public class Service : ITest
    {
        public Orders GetOrders()
        {
            return new Orders { Description = "My order", OrderID = 1 };
        }
    }
    public static void Test()
    {
        //MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
        //XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Orders));
        //Orders o = new Orders { OrderID = 1, Description = "My order" };
        //xs.Serialize(ms, o);
        //Console.WriteLine(Encoding.UTF8.GetString(ms.ToArray()));

        string baseAddress = "http://" + Environment.MachineName + ":8000/Service";
        ServiceHost host = new ServiceHost(typeof(Service), new Uri(baseAddress));
        host.AddServiceEndpoint(typeof(ITest), new BasicHttpBinding(), "");
        host.Description.Behaviors.Add(new ServiceMetadataBehavior { HttpGetEnabled = true });
        host.Open();
        Console.WriteLine("Host opened");

        ChannelFactory<ITest> factory = new ChannelFactory<ITest>(new BasicHttpBinding(), new EndpointAddress(baseAddress));
        ITest proxy = factory.CreateChannel();

        Console.WriteLine(proxy.GetOrders());

        ((IClientChannel)proxy).Close();
        factory.Close();

        Console.Write("Press ENTER to close the host");
        Console.ReadLine();
        host.Close();
    }
}