NullReferenceException when calling Sitecore Database.Templates[] inside WCF service

Question

I'm new to Sitecore development, so my apologies if this question is basic. I've created both an agent (scheduled task) and a WCF service and have them both added to my SiteCore project. The agent calls the same code the WCF service code calls.

The issue I am having is that when I call Database.Template[ID template] passing in the ID container of the corresponding template for an item I want to process, it works inside the agent task, but not inside the WCF service.

Any call to Database.Template[ID id] inside the WCF service is giving me a NullReferenceException, however the exact same call inside the agent gathers up the template properly.

Is this due to some structural reason dependent on the calling application being a webpage instead of a webservice?

Edit #1: I have svc as an allowed extension, and I have tried both

Sitecore.Configuration.Factory.GetDatabase("master") 

and

var siteContext = Sitecore.Configuration.Factory.GetSite("websiteMaster");
siteContext.Database.Template[]; 

both which return NullReferenceException.

I also can successfully obtain an Item, using GetItem, however when I try to access the Template property of that item, I get a NullReferenceException.

Answer 1

You have no Sitecore Context from your WCF service and so Sitecore.Context.Database is null.

You can either add svc to the list of allowed extensions or get the data via Sitecore.Configuration.Factory.GetDatabase("master")

• Attach WCF services to Sitecore context
• Access Sitecore data with WCF