return html from wcf service

Question

I have a web service from which I need to return a string containing html. This html is the markup for a Select control (for use in jqGrid search filters), e.g.

Answer 1

I know this is an old post, but for a service that will only be hosted in IIS, here is an easy way to return html:

[AspNetCompatibilityRequirements(RequirementsMode = AspNetCompatibilityRequirementsMode.Required)]
public Stream getHtml()
{
    // get the html
    var html = DoSomethingToGetHtml();  //Not a built-in .Net method ;)

    // we want our result interpreted as plain html
    WebOperationContext.Current.OutgoingResponse.ContentType = "text/html; charset=utf-8";

    // create a stream from our html because trying to return a string adds an extra header tag
    //      to the response.  Returning a stream returns the html by itself
    var result = new MemoryStream(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(html));

    // return the result
    return result;
}

This code requires the following in the web.config hosting the service:

    
    

    
        
                          
                
            
        
    
    ...

In the configuration for the service, set behaviorConfiguration="webHttpEnabled".

Returning html in this way limits the reusability of the service a bit, but it's an easy way to solve the problem if you're reasonably sure the service will always be hosted in IIS.