Question

In my web app I use several asmx (Web Services) from the same provider, they have one for this, other for that, but all require a SOAP Header with Authentication.

It is simple to add the Authentication:

public static SoCredentialsHeader AttachCredentialHeader() {     SoCredentialsHeader ch = new SoCredentialsHeader();     ch.AuthenticationType = SoAuthenticationType.CRM5;     ch.UserId = 'myUsername';     ch.Secret = apUtilities.CalculateCredentialsSecret(         SoAuthenticationType.CRM5, apUtilities.GetDays(), 'myUsername', 'myPassword');     return ch; } 

The problem is this SoCredentialsHeader come (derivation) from ONE webservice and I need to add the same code to the others, like:

public static wsContact.SoCredentialsHeader AttachContactCredentialHeader() {     wsContact.SoCredentialsHeader ch = new wsContact.SoCredentialsHeader();     ch.AuthenticationType = wsContact.SoAuthenticationType.CRM5;     ch.UserId = 'myUsername';     ch.Secret = apUtilities.CalculateCredentialsSecret(         wsContact.SoAuthenticationType.CRM5, apUtilities.GetDays(), 'myUsername', 'myPassword');     return ch; }  public static wsDiary.SoCredentialsHeader AttachDiaryCredentialHeader() {     wsDiary.SoCredentialsHeader ch = new wsDiary.SoCredentialsHeader();     ch.AuthenticationType = wsDiary.SoAuthenticationType.CRM5;     ch.UserId = 'myUsername';     ch.Secret = apUtilities.CalculateCredentialsSecret(         wsDiary.SoAuthenticationType.CRM5, apUtilities.GetDays(), 'myUsername', 'myPassword');     return ch; } 

Is there a way to implement a design pattern in order to use only one function but that suits all webServices?

sometimes I see the T letter, is this a case for that? if yes, how can I accomplish such feature?

P.S. I could pass an enum and use a switch to check the enum name and apply the correct Header but everytime I need to add a new WebService, I need to add the enum and the code, I’m searcging for an advanced technique for this.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Create a file called whatever.tt (the trick is the .tt extension) anywhere in your VS solution and paste the following code:

using System;  namespace Whatever {     public static class Howdy     { <#      string[] webServices = new string[] {'wsContact', 'wsDiary'};     foreach (string wsName in webServices)     { #>     public static <#=wsName#>.SoCredentialsHeader AttachContactCredentialHeader()     {         <#=wsName#>.SoCredentialsHeader ch = new <#=wsName#>.SoCredentialsHeader();         ch.AuthenticationType = <#=wsName#>.SoAuthenticationType.CRM5;         ch.UserId = 'myUsername';         ch.Secret = apUtilities.CalculateCredentialsSecret(<#=wsName#>.SoAuthenticationType.CRM5,                 apUtilities.GetDays(), 'myUsername', 'myPassword');         return ch;     }     }        <# } #> } 

Then watch as a whatever.cs magically appears with the desired code snippets.These are called T4 templates for code generation in VS.

You’ll want to turn these into partial classes or extension methods or something. The above code will not function ‘as is’ but you get the idea.