wcf - Why do i need both mex endpoint and httpGetEnable?

Question

I was wondering why do i need to declare this:

 <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true" />

and also this

<endpoint contract="IMetadataExchange" binding="mexHttpBinding" address="mex" />

If i use only the first one - it is working via browser. so why do i need the second one ?

Can you give me example please for the situation which i'll have to use the latter ?

Answer 1

You need to

• enable the service to publish metadata at all (that's the serviceMetadata behavior) - but you don't need the httpGetEnabled - that's optional

• have a place (endpoint) where an inquiring client can go grab that service metadata - that's the MEX endpoint. This is for a machine-readable format of the metadata - one that Visual Studio or svcutil can use to create a client. It's not intended for human consumption