calling a wcf 4.5 WCF service asynhronously

Question

I want to make sure I have the correct code in place for an asynchronous call to my web service. If someone can please help, I would appreciate it very much.

I am using Visual Studio 2013 with the 4.5.1 framework.

I have the following code in my client application making a call to the service:

public async Task<ActionResult> Read([DataSourceRequest]DataSourceRequest request)
        {    
            try
            {
                YeagerTechWcfService.Status[] status = await db.GetStatusesAsync();

                var serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();
                var result = new ContentResult();
                serializer.MaxJsonLength = Int32.MaxValue;
                result.Content = serializer.Serialize(status.ToDataSourceResult(request));
                result.ContentType = "application/json";

                return result;
            }

I have the following in my WCF Service Contract for the above method call:

[ServiceContract]
    public interface IYeagerTechWcfService
    {
            [OperationContract]
        Task<List<Status>> GetStatusesAsync();

I have the following in my web service class that implements the interface class for the same method:

public class YeagerTechWcfService : IYeagerTechWcfService
    {
            public async Task<List<Status>> GetStatusesAsync()
        {
            try
            {
                using (YeagerTechEntities DbContext = new YeagerTechEntities())
                {
                    DbContext.Configuration.ProxyCreationEnabled = false;
                    DbContext.Database.Connection.Open();

                    var status = await DbContext.Status.ToListAsync();

                    return status;
                }
            }
            catch (Exception)
            {
                throw;
            }
        }

According to what I was further reading, I would also need the following placed after my OperationContract attribute: *Is this true?*

[OperationContractAttribute(AsyncPattern = true)]
    IAsyncResult BeginGetStatusesAsync(AsyncCallback callback, object asyncState);

    string EndGetStatusesAsync(IAsyncResult result);

I don't always call WCF services drunk, but when I do, I call them asynhronously. — , Nov 21 '13 at 14:51

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 21 '13 at 15:38

No, AsyncPattern is no longer required as of .NET 4.5.

I have a blog post Async WCF Today and Tomorrow that compares the old way of asynchronous WCF ("Today" in the blog post: .NET 4.0) with the new way of asynchronous WCF ("Tomorrow" in the blog post: .NET 4.5).

Roy Dictus · Answer 2 · 2013-11-21T15:02:08.553

1

Your WCF service doesn't have to support asynchronous methods; the client generation (Add Service Reference) can generate client-side asynchronous call handling for you.

When adding a Service Reference to your client application, just tick the Generate asynchronous operations checkbox and your proxy class will contain the asynchronous versions of the calls. Easy!

edited Nov 21 '13 at 15:02

answered Nov 21 '13 at 14:53

Roy Dictus

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calling a wcf 4.5 WCF service asynhronously

2 Answers2