Safari Books Online is a digital library providing on-demand subscription access to thousands of learning resources.
- Create BookmarkCreate Bookmark
- Create Note or TagCreate Note or Tag
- DownloadDownload
- PrintPrint
Creating and Modifying Data Connections > Defining a WCF Service Connection
Defining a WCF Service Connection
When you select Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Service as your data source type, the WCF Connection dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 4-16. You can use this data source to connect to WCF services and XML web services, also known as SOAP services. WCF services usually end with an .svc extension, and XML web services, if created using ASP.NET, end with an .asmx extension. Microsoft has provided a number of services for SharePoint with .svc and .asmx extensions, but none of them are BCS compatible.
Note
See Also You can find information on creating a BCS-compatible WCF service in Chapter 12.
Figure 4-16. Enter details about how to connect to a WCF service and the authentication credentials to be used.
To complete the connection definition, supply the following information:
-
Service Metadata URL This information allows SharePoint Designer to receive the metadata/schema for the service so that the Data Source Explorer can be populated with web methods. You can then use these methods to create the ECT operations. For an XML web service ?wsdl is appended to the URL, and for a WCF service /mex is appended to the URL.
-
Metadata Connection Mode You have the option of using either WSDL or MEX. Select WSDL if your data source uses XML web services; select MEX if your data source uses WCF.
-
Service Endpoint URL SharePoint will use this URL to connect to the data source when displaying an external list, using an external column, or displaying data in a Business Data Web Part.
-
WCF Authentication Settings These options are the same as those you see when creating an SQL data connection.
Although doing so is optional, you should provide a name for the service, as this name appears in the ECT picker. You may also need to define a proxy for SharePoint to access the data source. This information will be provided by your developer if the WCF service is developed in-house, or in documentation provided by a third party.
