Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation 4.0 Cookbook for Developing SOA Applications

Make DataContract forward-compatible

WCF uses a serialization engine called DataContractSerializer by default, to serialize and deserialize data. If we want to add new complex data types (that will be transferred in service operations) in a WCF service, we need to define it as a DataContract type so as to make it friendly to the DataContractSerializer engine. A .NET serialization system supports backward-compatibility on custom data types naturally. However, sometimes we also need forward-compatibility for data types used in a WCF service. Suppose that you have a service that exchanges some custom data types between clients. If one side updates the custom data type (adds some fields or properties) or uses a newer version, it is important to make ...