Call ASP.NET function from JavaScript?

Question

I\'m writing a web page in ASP.NET. I have some JavaScript code, and I have a submit button with a click event.

Is it possible to call a method I created in ASP with

Answer 1

Static, strongly-typed programming has always felt very natural to me, so at first I resisted learning JavaScript (not to mention HTML and CSS) when I had to build web-based front-ends for my applications. I would do anything to work around this like redirecting to a page just to perform and action on the OnLoad event, as long as I could code pure C#.

You will find however that if you are going to be working with websites, you must have an open mind and start thinking more web-oriented (that is, don't try to do client-side things on the server and vice-versa). I love ASP.NET webforms and still use it (as well as MVC), but I will say that by trying to make things simpler and hiding the separation of client and server it can confuse newcomers and actually end up making things more difficult at times.

My advice is to learn some basic JavaScript (how to register events, retrieve DOM objects, manipulate CSS, etc.) and you will find web programming much more enjoyable (not to mention easier). A lot of people mentioned different Ajax libraries, but I didn't see any actual Ajax examples, so here it goes. (If you are not familiar with Ajax, all it is, is making an asynchronous HTTP request to refresh content (or perhaps perform a server-side action in your scenario) without reloading the entire page or doing a full postback.

Client-Side:

That's it. Although the name can be misleading the result can be in plain text or JSON as well, you are not limited to XML. jQuery provides an even simpler interface for making Ajax calls (among simplifying other JavaScript tasks).

The request can be an HTTP-POST or HTTP-GET and does not have to be to a webpage, but you can post to any service that listens for HTTP requests such as a RESTful API. The ASP.NET MVC 4 Web API makes setting up the server-side web service to handle the request a breeze as well. But many people do not know that you can also add API controllers to web forms project and use them to handle Ajax calls like this.

Server-Side:

public class DataController : ApiController
{
    public HttpResponseMessage Get()
    {
        HttpResponseMessage response = new HttpResponseMessage(
            Repository.Get(true),
            new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/json")
        );

        return response;
    }
}

Global.asax

Then just register the HTTP route in your Global.asax file, so ASP.NET will know how to direct the request.

void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    RouteTable.Routes.MapHttpRoute("Service", "api/{controller}/{id}");
}

With AJAX and Controllers, you can post back to the server at any time asynchronously to perform any server side operation. This one-two punch provides both the flexibility of JavaScript and the power the C# / ASP.NET, giving the people visiting your site a better overall experience. Without sacrificing anything, you get the best of both worlds.

References

• Ajax,
• jQuery Ajax,
• Controller in Webforms