WCF service: Returning custom objects

Question

I'm using WCF service in my application. I need to return a custom object in the service class. The method is as follows:

IService.cs:
[OperationContract]
object GetObject();

Service.cs
public object GetObject() 
{
  object NewObject = "Test";
  return NewObject;
}

Whenever i make a call to the service, it throws an exception with the following message:

System.ServiceModel.CommunicationException: "An error occured while receiving the HTTP response to <service path>"

Inner Exception:

System.Net.WebException: "The underlying connection was closed. An unexpected error occured on receive"

Can't we return object types or custom objects from the WCF service?

Answer 1

You should return an instance of a class that is marked with the DataContract attribute:

[DataContract]
public class MyClass
{
    [DataMember]
    public string MyString {get; set;}
}

Now change your service interface like so:

[OperationContract]    
MyClass GetMyClass();  

And your service:

public MyClass GetMyClass()      
{     
    return new MyClass{MyString = "Test"};     
} 

Answer 2

You should return a specific type, not "object". An "object" could be of any type.