how to call an ASP.NET c# method using javascript

Asked 17/8, 2011 at 8:23 Answered 17/8, 2011 at 8:47

Does anyone know how to call a server-side c# method using javascript? What i need to do is to stop imports if Cancel is chosen or to continue importing if ok is chosen. I am using visual studio 2010 and c# as my programming lanaguage

This is my code:

private void AlertWithConfirmation()            
{                 
    Response.Write(
        "<script type=\"text/javascript\">" +     
            "if (window.confirm('Import is currently in progress. Do you want to continue with importation? If yes choose OK, If no choose CANCEL')) {" +     
                "window.alert('Imports have been cancelled!');" +     
            "} else {" +   
                "window.alert('Imports are still in progress');" +     
            "}" +      
        "</script>");   
}

Euthenics answered 17/8, 2011 at 8:23 Comment(1)

Easiest way is probably to send an AJAX request back to the server with jQuery or a related framework: api.jquery.com/jQuery.ajax so in your cancel block, create the request and send to the server. If you need more info just ask. – Obtrude 17/8, 2011 at 8:29

PageMethod an easier and faster approach for Asp.Net AJAX We can easily improve user experience and performance of web applications by unleashing the power of AJAX. One of the best things which I like in AJAX is PageMethod.

PageMethod is a way through which we can expose server side page's method in java script. This brings so many opportunities we can perform lots of operations without using slow and annoying post backs.

In this post I am showing the basic use of ScriptManager and PageMethod. In this example I am creating a User Registration form, in which user can register against his email address and password. Here is the markup of the page which I am going to develop:

<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
        <fieldset style="width: 200px;">
            <asp:Label ID="lblEmailAddress" runat="server" Text="Email Address"></asp:Label>
            <asp:TextBox ID="txtEmail" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            <asp:Label ID="lblPassword" runat="server" Text="Password"></asp:Label>
            <asp:TextBox ID="txtPassword" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
        </fieldset>
        <div>
        </div>
        <asp:Button ID="btnCreateAccount" runat="server" Text="Signup"  />
    </div>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

To setup page method, first you have to drag a script manager on your page.

<asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server" EnablePageMethods="true">
</asp:ScriptManager>

Also notice that I have changed EnablePageMethods="true".
This will tell ScriptManager that I am going to call PageMethods from client side.

Now next step is to create a Server Side function.
Here is the function which I created, this function validates user's input:

[WebMethod]
public static string RegisterUser(string email, string password)
{
    string result = "Congratulations!!! your account has been created.";
    if (email.Length == 0)//Zero length check
    {
        result = "Email Address cannot be blank";
    }
    else if (!email.Contains(".") || !email.Contains("@")) //some other basic checks
    {
        result = "Not a valid email address";
    }
    else if (!email.Contains(".") || !email.Contains("@")) //some other basic checks
    {
        result = "Not a valid email address";
    }

    else if (password.Length == 0)
    {
        result = "Password cannot be blank";
    }
    else if (password.Length < 5)
    {
        result = "Password cannot be less than 5 chars";
    }

    return result;
}

To tell script manager that this method is accessible through javascript we need to ensure two things:
First: This method should be 'public static'.
Second: There should be a [WebMethod] tag above method as written in above code.

Now I have created server side function which creates account. Now we have to call it from client side. Here is how we can call that function from client side:

<script type="text/javascript">
    function Signup() {
        var email = document.getElementById('<%=txtEmail.ClientID %>').value;
        var password = document.getElementById('<%=txtPassword.ClientID %>').value;

        PageMethods.RegisterUser(email, password, onSucess, onError);

        function onSucess(result) {
            alert(result);
        }

        function onError(result) {
            alert('Cannot process your request at the moment, please try later.');
        }
    }
</script>

To call my server side method Register user, ScriptManager generates a proxy function which is available in PageMethods.
My server side function has two paramaters i.e. email and password, after that parameters we have to give two more function names which will be run if method is successfully executed (first parameter i.e. onSucess) or method is failed (second parameter i.e. result).

Now every thing seems ready, and now I have added OnClientClick="Signup();return false;" on my Signup button. So here complete code of my aspx page :

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
    <title></title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
    <div>
        <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server" EnablePageMethods="true">
        </asp:ScriptManager>
        <fieldset style="width: 200px;">
            <asp:Label ID="lblEmailAddress" runat="server" Text="Email Address"></asp:Label>
            <asp:TextBox ID="txtEmail" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            <asp:Label ID="lblPassword" runat="server" Text="Password"></asp:Label>
            <asp:TextBox ID="txtPassword" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
        </fieldset>
        <div>
        </div>
        <asp:Button ID="btnCreateAccount" runat="server" Text="Signup" OnClientClick="Signup();return false;" />
    </div>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

<script type="text/javascript">
    function Signup() {
        var email = document.getElementById('<%=txtEmail.ClientID %>').value;
        var password = document.getElementById('<%=txtPassword.ClientID %>').value;

        PageMethods.RegisterUser(email, password, onSucess, onError);

        function onSucess(result) {
            alert(result);
        }

        function onError(result) {
            alert('Cannot process your request at the moment, please try later.');
        }
    }
</script>

Necaise answered 17/8, 2011 at 8:39 Comment(4)

Thanks @Fahad, however I get the error: Microsoft JScript runtime error: 'PageMethods' is undefined... the problem for me seems to be implementing this in a master page. – Nipper 15/7, 2013 at 15:56

[WebMethod] is short for [System.Web.Services.WebMethod] – Suspiration 27/12, 2016 at 3:26

Thanks, didn't knew that. In my case, I can't access to my class functions because of the "static" WebMethod. Resolved that with UpdatePanel (UpdateMode="Conditional"), a css-hidden asp:Button which's onClick function has access to my class functions. Hitting the button via JavaScript. Works for me. Hope this is an alternative to others :-). – Kalevala 1/6, 2017 at 8:49

Script manager must be in form tag! Otherwise following error will be generated! `Control 'ScriptManager1' of type 'ScriptManager' must be placed inside a form tag with runat=server. – Dickson 24/7, 2023 at 4:34

You will need to do an Ajax call I suspect. Here is an example of an Ajax called made by jQuery to get you started. The Code logs in a user to my system but returns a bool as to whether it was successful or not. Note the ScriptMethod and WebMethod attributes on the code behind method.

in markup:

 var $Username = $("#txtUsername").val();
            var $Password = $("#txtPassword").val();

            //Call the approve method on the code behind
            $.ajax({
                type: "POST",
                url: "Pages/Mobile/Login.aspx/LoginUser",
                data: "{'Username':'" + $Username + "', 'Password':'" + $Password + "' }", //Pass the parameter names and values
                contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
                dataType: "json",
                async: true,
                error: function (jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {
                    alert("Error- Status: " + textStatus + " jqXHR Status: " + jqXHR.status + " jqXHR Response Text:" + jqXHR.responseText) },
                success: function (msg) {
                    if (msg.d == true) {
                        window.location.href = "Pages/Mobile/Basic/Index.aspx";
                    }
                    else {
                        //show error
                        alert('login failed');
                    }
                }
            });

In Code Behind:

/// <summary>
/// Logs in the user
/// </summary>
/// <param name="Username">The username</param>
/// <param name="Password">The password</param>
/// <returns>true if login successful</returns>
[WebMethod, ScriptMethod]
public static bool LoginUser( string Username, string Password )
{
    try
    {
        StaticStore.CurrentUser = new User( Username, Password );

        //check the login details were correct
        if ( StaticStore.CurrentUser.IsAuthentiacted )
        {
            //change the status to logged in
            StaticStore.CurrentUser.LoginStatus = Objects.Enums.LoginStatus.LoggedIn;

            //Store the user ID in the list of active users
            ( HttpContext.Current.Application[ SessionKeys.ActiveUsers ] as Dictionary<string, int> )[ HttpContext.Current.Session.SessionID ] = StaticStore.CurrentUser.UserID;

            return true;
        }
        else
        {
            return false;
        }
    }
    catch ( Exception ex )
    {
        return false;
    }
}

Gamophyllous answered 17/8, 2011 at 8:32 Comment(0)

I'm going to go right ahead and offer a solution using jQuery, which means you will need to import the library if you haven't already...

Import the jQuery library in your page mark-up:

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.4/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

Then create another *.js script file (I call mine ExecutePageMethod, since that is the only method it is going to expose) and import it:

<script type="text/javascript" src="/ExecutePageMethod.js" ></script>

Within the newly added file, add the following code (I remember pulling this from elsewhere, so someone else deserves credit for it really):

function ExecutePageMethod(page, fn, paramArray, successFn, errorFn) {
    var paramList = '';
    if (paramArray.length > 0) {
        for (var i = 0; i < paramArray.length; i += 2) {
            if (paramList.length > 0) paramList += ',';
            paramList += '"' + paramArray[i] + '":"' + paramArray[i + 1] + '"';
        }
    }
    paramList = '{' + paramList + '}';
    $.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: page + "/" + fn,
        contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
        data: paramList,
        dataType: "json",
        success: successFn,
        error: errorFn
    });
}

You will then need to augment your .NET page method with the appropriate attributes, as such:

[WebMethod]
[ScriptMethod(ResponseFormat = ResponseFormat.Json)]
public static string MyMethod()
{
    return "Yay!";
}

Now, within your page mark-up, within a script block or from another script file, you can call the method, like so:

ExecutePageMethod("PageName.aspx", "MyMethod", [], OnSuccess, OnFailure);

Obviously you will need to implement the OnSuccess and OnFailure methods.

To consume the results, say in the OnSuccess method, you can use the parseJSON method, which, if the results become more complex (in the case or returning an array of types, for instance) this method will parse it into objects:

function OnSuccess(result) {
    var parsedResult = jQuery.parseJSON(result.d);
}

This ExecutePageMethod code is particularly useful since it it reusable, so rather than having to manage an $.ajax call for each page method you might want to execute, you just need to pass the page, method name and arguments to this method.

Propolis answered 17/8, 2011 at 8:38 Comment(1)

Do you need the ScriptManager tool on the page to use this method? I seem to have issues with all of my scripts loading when using the chosen answer above. – Snarl 1/5, 2016 at 20:8

The Jayrock RPC library is a great tool for doing this in a nice familliar way for C# developers. It allows you to create a .NET class with the methods you require, and add this class as a script (in a roundabout way) to your page. You can then create a js object of your type and call methods as you would any other object.

It essentially hides away ajax implementation and presents RPC in a familliar format. Mind you the best option really is to use ASP.NET MVC and use jQuery ajax calls to action methods - much more concise and less messing about!

Hector answered 17/8, 2011 at 8:47 Comment(0)

There are several options. You can use the WebMethod attribute, for your purpose.

Nickolasnickolaus answered 17/8, 2011 at 8:32 Comment(0)

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