[C#] Am I missing a pitfall with base64 encode sending?

[sathenzar]

I am always learning different parts of the C# language b/c lets face it, it's a lot of fun :). I've decided to configure my wcf service as a rest service which supports json request/response instead of xml. All has gone well and I can serialize/deserialize my messages into complex classes so far, unless I send a bunch of data in them. I've tried to change my readerQuotas, etc, etc but everytime I try to make a call it says "Error: Bad Data". I know the service works because I can call simple functions and pass data to/from the service. But if I pass a class with 3 byte[] properties each 128 bytes in length it fails. If I pass the same class with each byte[] param with 3 bytes of data it goes through (I base64 encode each complex class after serializing them). Here is my example code:

This example passes and goes through:

GetTestSalesRequest req = new GetTestSalesRequest()
			{
				CurrentTest = new byte[] { 1 },
				CurrentMTest = new byte[] { 4 },
				UserName = this.gl_userName,// <---- is a string
				UserPwd = new byte[] { 2 }
			};

string test = await this.gl_client2.TestFunc(req);
			System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Test function: {0}", test);

This example fails.

GetTestSalesRequest req = new GetTestSalesRequest()
			{
				CurrentTest = CryptographicEngine.Encrypt(keySvr, Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(test1.ToString()).AsBuffer(), null).ToArray(), // <---- is a byte[]
				CurrentMTest = CryptographicEngine.Encrypt(keySvr, Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(test2.ToString()).AsBuffer(), null).ToArray(), //<---- is a  byte[]
				UserName = this.gl_userName,// <---- is a string
				UserPwd = this.gl_userPwd // <--- is a byte[]
			};

string test = await this.gl_client2.TestFunc(req);
			System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Test function: {0}", test);

public async Task<string> TestFunc(GetTestSalesRequest request)
		{

string resBody = null;
			byte[] testStr = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(WebHelperClass.SerializeJSONObj<GetTestSalesRequest>(request));
			string addr = string.Format("{0}/TestFunc/{1}", this.gl_baseAddr, Convert.ToBase64String(testStr));
			WebRequest req = WebRequest.Create(addr);
			HttpWebResponse res = await req.GetResponseAsync() as HttpWebResponse;
			if (res.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.OK)
			{
				using (Stream stream = res.GetResponseStream())
				{
					using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(stream))
					{
						resBody = sr.ReadToEnd();
						sr.Dispose();
					}
				}
			}
			return resBody;
}

Is there a pitfall I'm going into here? What am I missing that is really obvious because this has to be possible to be done.

[firey]

Not really strong with debugging other peoples code.. But.. have you tried:

1) Sending the same data but un-encrypted

2) Using AsciiEncoding.Ascii instead of Encoding.UTF8 for the base64 encode?

3) It looks like you are just using the CryptographicEngine, that won't base64 it, have you tried just a plain-jane base64 encode?

4) You pass in a few variables, are you sure they are all initialized correctly?

[ingramator]

Gives us a look at the debugging log files from VS :)

[sathenzar]

Well basically I'm just taking the json string (that was created by serializing the complex class) in TestFunc and base64 encoding it to send it across to the rest service so I don't have a long query string similar to /TestFunc/{[80,10,01,01,30,10,10], "test":"etc"}. So I am base64 encoding the whole thing then decoding it on the rest service side. If I send the class with only have small amounts of byte data it goes through just fine. If I send each byte[] with having 128 different indexes each then it fails. Ingramator which files do you want? The debugger just outputs saying "The remote server returned an error: (400) Bad Request."

System.Net.WebException was unhandled by user code

HResult=-2146233079

Message=The remote server returned an error: (400) Bad Request.

Source=System

StackTrace:

at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.EndGetResponse(IAsyncResult asyncResult)

at System.Threading.Tasks.TaskFactory`1.FromAsyncCoreLogic(IAsyncResult iar, Func`2 endFunction, Action`1 endAction, Task`1 promise, Boolean requiresSynchronization)

--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---

at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task)

at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)

at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter`1.GetResult()

at TestSaleStoreApp.TestSaleRestSvcClient.<TestFunc>d__a.MoveNext() in c:\Users\User\Documents\Visual Studio 2012\Projects\TestSaleStoreApp\TestSaleStoreApp\TestSaleRestSvcClient.cs:line 50

--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---

at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task)

at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)

at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter`1.GetResult()

at TestSaleStoreApp.MainUserPg.<initSettings>d__16.MoveNext() in c:\Users\User\Documents\Visual Studio 2012\Projects\TestSaleStoreApp\TestSaleStoreApp\MainUserPg.xaml.cs:line 524

InnerException:

If you need more info let me know :) I'm stumped on this one. As for the ASCII I haven't tried that yet I'll look into it later today but I'm suspecting it has to do with the length of the content (which I've changed the readerQuota settings).

I also really appreciate the help so far guys!

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

It's quite possible you're just sending too much data via the query string, why aren't you just sending it as the request body instead?

base64 makes the content larger, and you don't need to do it with text (like JSON).

[sathenzar]

@The_Decryptor b/c I'm new to using Rest services I'm used to using SOAP :) I'll look into that thanks.

EDIT: My url looks like this:

localhost:8733/Design_Time_Addresses/TestSaleRestSvc/Service1/TestFunc/eyJDdXJyZW50Q29vcmRzTGF0IjpbMiwzLDRdLCJDdXJyZW50Q29vcmRzTG9uZyI6WzMsNCw1XSwiVXNlck5hbWUiOiJyeWFuIiwiVXNlclB3ZCI6WzFdfQ==&pwdKey=Aw==&latKey=JbU2hfwNBi1vHZxH5OnUcKabsT1kx16jqn3BAxLDXPTCHbyIlDyPOoK0NNQVSLmaOD5x1bjzipTM9VJOaQgTIgjmqNtX+l9Jq2EeetSQI58RhCwUFRQGOpKaLEJ03JeZ5UjD3rTzm2HFr5P0SvQBYBsgLB9W1je3PPoD28Ro7IU=&longKey=AQ=="]localhost:8733/Design_Time_Addresses/TestSaleRestSvc/Service1/TestFunc/eyJDdXJyZW50Q29vcmRzTGF0IjpbMiwzLDRdLCJDdXJyZW50Q29vcmRzTG9uZyI6WzMsNCw1XSwiVXNlck5hbWUiOiJyeWFuIiwiVXNlclB3ZCI6WzFdfQ==&pwdKey=Aw==&latKey=JbU2hfwNBi1vHZxH5OnUcKabsT1kx16jqn3BAxLDXPTCHbyIlDyPOoK0NNQVSLmaOD5x1bjzipTM9VJOaQgTIgjmqNtX+l9Jq2EeetSQI58RhCwUFRQGOpKaLEJ03JeZ5UjD3rTzm2HFr5P0SvQBYBsgLB9W1je3PPoD28Ro7IU=&longKey=AQ==

[ingramator]

Hmm it's always to debug without having it in front of you but I can try and point you in the right direction! :) If its working with smaller data samples it may be that you're [trying to encode an unsupported data type]/[base64 doesn't know what to encode so its sending invalid data] but I can't tell from the log there. The most common problem I find is that the data buffer is not being completely filled or filled correctly so I'd investigate that first! Enable tracing first, instructions here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms733025.aspx :p then test and it will show you exactly where the problem is occurring. Hope this helps, good luck with the project mate!

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

The issue isn't on the client, the log says that the server is what's throwing the error (400 Bad Request)

[sathenzar]

Writing the object to the body stream and changing the parameter type of the service to the complex object instead of a string made it work for some reason. REST is more of a pain learning how to use then SOAP that is for sure :)

[sathenzar]

So I want to take this time to thank everyone who helped me. You guys are all great assets to this community and I hope I can give back one day by finding other questions I can answer in this forum and post my 2 cents on the subject (you guys are just too quick it seems most of the time and say what I would say :) ). +1 to you all and I hope you have a good holiday.

[ingramator]

No worries man! Have a good christmas holiday as well!