In this article we will be discussing WCF Channels and Bindings.
Clients and Services communicate by passing messages.
The mechanism they use to communicate is a channel stack, which is made up of channels.
The
Protocol Channels are responsible for configuring the messages to be
sent from the client side to the server side or from the server to the
client.
Protocol channels consists of the Transaction Channel,
Reliable Messaging Protocol, and Security Protocols. For example, if the
call is a part of the Transaction then the Transaction protocol is
responsible for configuring the message to participate in the
Transaction.
Similarly for the Reliable Messaging Protocol and
the Security Protocols they are responsible for configuring the messages
for taking part in Reliable Messaging and Security.
These
protocols are all optional. You need not use these protocols. For
example, you need not have the Security settings. The BasicHttpBinding
in WCF does not have security settings. This is the Default Binding.
The Transport channels are responsible for transporting the messages.
The
Client sends the message as XML, the message reaches the message
encoder and then the message encoder converts the messages to byte
format for transporting.
The Transport Protocol then comes into the picture. It is responsible for transporting the messages.
The
same process is followed on the server side. The messages, when
transferred on the server side, are in Byte format. The messages are
then converted into XML format.
Finally after passing through
various protocols, the XML will reach the service and then the service
will read the XML and know what is it the Client is asking for.
If the Service sends a message back the process reverses.
Bindings:Lets see what Bindings are:
The next is Binding elements:
Let's also learn about Binding properties.
In the next post I will try to give some code examples on Properties and Bindings.