Call Server Side function from Client Side code in ASPNet

In this article I will explain with an example, how to call Server Side function from Client Side code i.e. JavaScript in ASP.Net using C# and VB.Net.

The Server Side function can be called from Client Side code i.e. JavaScript using ASP.Net AJAX PageMethods in ASP.Net.

Enabling PageMethods

The first thing you need to do is add a ASP.Net AJAX ScriptManager to the page and set its EnablePageMethods property to true.

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

</asp:ScriptManager>

HTML Markup

The following HTML Markup consists of an ASP.Net TextBox, an HTML Button and an ASP.Net AJAX ScriptManager.

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

</asp:ScriptManager>

<div>

Your Name :

<asp:TextBox ID="txtUserName" runat="server" ></asp:TextBox>

</div>

</form>

Client Side Script

When user enter his name and Button is clicked the ShowCurrentTime JavaScript method is executed to get the Current Time.

The ShowCurrentTime method makes an AJAX call to the server using ASP.Net AJAX ScriptManager PageMethods and executes the GetCurrentTime method which accepts the username and returns a string value.

function ShowCurrentTime() {

PageMethods.GetCurrentTime(document.getElementById("<%=txtUserName.ClientID%>").value, OnSuccess);

}

function OnSuccess(response, userContext, methodName) {

alert(response);

}

</script>

The WebMethod

The following WebMethod returns a greeting message to the user along with the current server time. An important thing to note is that the method is declared as static (C#) and Shared (VB.Net) and is decorated with WebMethod attribute, unless you do this you won’t be able to call the methods using ASP.Net AJAX ScriptManager PageMethods.

[System.Web.Services.WebMethod]

public static string GetCurrentTime(string name)

{

return "Hello " + name + Environment.NewLine + "The Current Time is: "

+ DateTime.Now.ToString();

}

VB.Net

<System.Web.Services.WebMethod()> _

Public Shared Function GetCurrentTime(ByVal name As String) As String

Return "Hello " & name & Environment.NewLine & "The Current Time is: " & _

DateTime.Now.ToString()

End Function