Send Word File Stream Web Service Request and Rest

Hello everyone I would like to send a word file in the HTTP post, and encode it in base64.

On the other hand I would decode it and save it.

Part of code to send is this:

try
            {
                string file = @"C:\Users\Giorgio\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\TeamTask\procedure.docx";

                HttpWebRequest httpRequest = (HttpWebRequest)
                WebRequest.Create("http://localhost:8080/TeamTask/");
                httpRequest.Method = WebRequestMethods.Http.Post;

                string postData = "value=" + (Encode(file));
                httpRequest.ContentLength = postData.Length;
                httpRequest.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
           
                StreamWriter requestWriter = new StreamWriter(
                    httpRequest.GetRequestStream(),
                    System.Text.Encoding.ASCII);
                requestWriter.Write(postData);
                requestWriter.Close();

            }
            catch (System.Net.WebException ex)
            {
                
                Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
            }

the decoding part is the following (WEB SERVICE REST)

     [WebInvoke(UriTemplate = "", Method = "PUT")]
        public String Post()
        {
       
             string value = HttpContext.Current.Request["value"];
             Decode(value);
             return value;
        }

        public void Decode(string value)
        {
            string file = @"C:\Users\Giorgio\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\TeamTask\temp.docx";

            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(file))
            {
                if (File.Exists(file))
                    File.Delete(file);

                byte[] filebytes = Convert.FromBase64String(value);
                FileStream fs = new FileStream(file, FileMode.CreateNew, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.Delete);
                fs.Write(filebytes, 0, filebytes.Length);
                fs.Close();
            }
      
        }

The word file is 47kb, when I send and decode web service from Rest of me is46kb.
It seems that you lose something.
Who can help me?

Ps sorry for my bad English

Re: Send Word File Stream Web Service Request and Rest

Hi StefanoIta,

I assume that the "Encode" function in your case just simply call Convert.ToBase64String agains the raw byte[] retrieved from FileStream. And the "Decode" function in your service code seems ok.

Now, the issue seems focus on how the base64 string get sent out and received at service side. currently you use the following code at the WebRequest based client:

==================
string postData = "value=" + (Encode(file));
httpRequest.ContentLength = postData.Length;
httpRequest.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
StreamWriter requestWriter = new StreamWriter(
                     httpRequest.GetRequestStream(),
                     System.Text.Encoding.ASCII);
                 requestWriter.Write(postData);
                 requestWriter.Close();
===============================

I'd suggest you change it to:

=========================== 
string postData = "value=" + (Encode(file));

httpRequest.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";             
StreamWriter requestWriter = new StreamWriter( 
httpRequest.GetRequestStream(), 
System.Text.Encoding.UTF8); 
requestWriter.Write(postData); 
requestWriter.Close(); 
==========================

So in shorts, you do not need to explicitly set the "ContentLength", and the ContentLength should be the number of underlying byte sent out(rather than the string length before they're write out as raw Asciior UTF-8 encoded bytes). Also, suggest that we use UTF-8 for webrequest's content encoding so that we do no need to worry about whether the text data we sent are ascii or unicode chars.

In addition, here you haven't defined any input parameter in your service operation, but use the HttpContext to retrieve the uploaded file stream in service operation code. I don't think it is the recommended approach for WCF service operation. Actually, with REST style WCF service, you can simply define the operation parameter of System.IO.Stream type and send any data (binary, text or even multi-part form) you like. Here are some references on sending arbitrary data for WCF REST service:

#WCF "Raw" programming model (Web) - receiving arbitrary data
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/carlosfigueira/archive/2008/04/17/wcf-raw-programming-model-receiving-arbitrary-data.aspx

#How to: Create a Service That Accepts Arbitrary Data using the WCF REST Programming Model
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc656724.aspx

Re: Send Word File Stream Web Service Request and Rest

I tried the change but not change anything: (
On the one hand I have that file is 47194 bytes and the other I get the 46519.

I used HttpContext to retrieve values because:
1.Queste wsRest should then be called from Java
2.Ho tried to add parameters public void Post (), but as soon as I get them to sendin my test post (I created a console application) tells me Error 400.

Re: Send Word File Stream Web Service Request and Rest

Thanks for the quick reply StefanoIta,

I just performed a quick test through a VS 2010 web project. Here is test REST service I used (I use an operation parameter to carray the base 64 encoded file content)

// Service Contract

[ServiceContract]     public interface IRESTFileService
{
         [WebInvoke]
         [OperationContract]
         void UploadFile(string base64FileContent);

        [WebGet]
         string GetData(string id);

    }

// Service Implementation public class RESTFileService : IRESTFileService
     {
         public void UploadFile(string base64FileContent)
         {
             var path = System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.MapPath("~/UploadedFiles/test.docx");

            if (File.Exists(path)) File.Delete(path);

            var bytes = Convert.FromBase64String(base64FileContent);

            using (var fs = File.Create(path))
             {
                 fs.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
             }
         }

        public string GetData(string id)
         {
             return "Data for [" + id + "]";
         }
     }

// Service Configuration

    <system.serviceModel>
       <services>
         <service name="BinaryRESTService.RESTFileService">
           <endpoint name="" behaviorConfiguration="webHttpBehavior"                     binding="webHttpBinding"                     contract="BinaryRESTService.IRESTFileService"                     />
         </service>
       </services>
       <bindings>
         <webHttpBinding>
           <binding>
             <security mode="None"></security>
             <readerQuotas maxStringContentLength="99999999"                           maxArrayLength="99999999"                            />
           </binding>
         </webHttpBinding>
       </bindings>
         <behaviors>
           <endpointBehaviors>
             <behavior name="webHttpBehavior" >
               <webHttp helpEnabled="true" faultExceptionEnabled="true"/>
             </behavior>
           </endpointBehaviors>
             <serviceBehaviors>
                 <behavior name="">
                     <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true" />
                     <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="true" httpHelpPageEnabled="true" />
                                    </behavior>

             </serviceBehaviors>
         </behaviors>
         <serviceHostingEnvironment multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true" />
     </system.serviceModel>

// client code

 static void Main(string[] args)
         {
             var request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://ipv4.fiddler:33994/RESTFileService.svc/UploadFile");
             request.Method = "POST";
             request.ContentType = "text/xml";
            

            using (var stream = request.GetRequestStream())
             {
                 var bytes = File.ReadAllBytes(@"..\..\test.docx");
                 var base64Bytes = Convert.ToBase64String(bytes);

                var requestXML = "<string xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/Serialization/'>" + base64Bytes +"</string>";
                 var requestBytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(requestXML);
                 stream.Write(requestBytes, 0, requestBytes.Length);
             }

            var response = request.GetResponse() as HttpWebResponse;

            using (var sr = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()))
             {
                 Console.WriteLine(sr.ReadToEnd());
             }
         }

BTW, as you can see, I've enabled "helpPage" , "faultException" and "includeExceptionDetailInFaults" options which are really helpful for testing and debugging REST service. and you can use fiddler to watch the error info returned in message.

One error I got at first is the content length (maxString length) exceed the default limit, and I adjust the quota in the binding configuration(see config fragment above).

If you feel necessary, I can send you the entire test solution.