Migrating to ASP.NET AJAX Beta 1

If you're trying to migrate from previous Microsoft Atlas releases to the new ASP.NET AJAX Core Beta 1 you'll quickly find out that several things have changed.  I was playing around with the AutoCompleteExtender this evening and noticed that it isn't in the "core" installation but has been moved into the CTP installation.  It's been changed a bit too.  In previous releases you would define it using syntax similar to the following:

<asp:TextBox id="txtCountry" runat="server" />
<atlas:AutoCompleteExtender ID="aceTxtCountry" runat="server">
   <atlas:AutoCompleteProperties Enabled="True"
          ServiceMethod="GetCountries"
          ServicePath="~/CustomerService.asmx"
          TargetControlID="txtCountry" MinimumPrefixLength="1" />
</atlas:AutoCompleteExtender>

The AutoCompleteProperties property of the AutoCompleteExtender control has been removed and everything is defined directly on the AutoCompleteExtender tag itself using attributes now:

<asp:TextBox id="txtCountry" runat="server"/>
<asp:AutoCompleteExtender ID="aceTxtCountry" runat="server" 
    ServiceMethod="GetCountries"
    ServicePath="~/CustomerService.asmx"
    TargetControlID="txtCountry"
    MinimumPrefixLength="1"  />

There are some other subtle changes that can bite you too on this control.

If you're calling Web Services from ASP.NET AJAX enabled pages you'll also have to make a change to the service.  Web Service classes now have to be defined using the ScriptService attribute as shown next:

[WebService(Namespace = "namespaceUri")]
[WebServiceBinding(ConformsTo = WsiProfiles.BasicProfile1_1)]
[ScriptService]
public class WebService : System.Web.Services.WebService {
   //Web Service Code
}

I'm hoping this change won't make it into the final release (although admit I'm still a bit vague on the rationale so I could change my mind) because in enterprise scenarios you may not have control over a Web Service and be able to add the attribute.  That means you'd have to make a wrapper Web Service that defines the ScriptService attribute and calls the "real" Web Service to get the data or write another custom solution.  We'll see what happens though...

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4 Comments

  • I hope the AutoCompleteExtended thing is a bug; if not it's very poor design.

    I noticed with Fiddler that Atlas hooks converted the web service into JSON instead of SOAP - perhaps this new attribute is a way to fine grain control that change?

  • Interesting....I haven't taken a look with Fiddler using the beta 1 build. It could be that the attribute controls that aspect of it though. I'm still a bit unclear on it's overall purpose other than clearly identifying that it's OK to call the service using AJAX.

  • I have been unable to get the AutoCompleteExtender to work since installing the Beta1 and also when I installed the Beta 2.

    Everything compiles and I tested out my webservice and it works. I loaded the webservice in my browser and got the pretty Microsoft webservice page with all the info about the service. I entered my inputs and out came the correct XML. So I know it isn't my webservice. I am pretty sure that the AutoCompleteExtender is basically being ignored.

    Any ideas?

  • The AutoCompleteExtender was moved into the Web Preview dll temporarily. So, you'll want to install the value-add CTP and create that type of Website using VS.NET 2005 in order to use the AutoCompleteExtender control in your pages (you'll see a new template options show up in the new Website dialog). I don't know when it'll be moved back into the core download but I'm hoping it's fairly soon since it's a powerful control.

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