Exposing Web Services to Client Script in an ASP.NET Web Page
To enable an .asmx Web service to be called from client script in an ASP.NET Web page, you must add a ScriptManager control to the page. You reference the Web service by adding an asp:ServiceReference child element to the ScriptManager control and then setting the server reference path attribute to the URL of the Web service. The ServiceReference object instructs ASP.NET to generate a JavaScript proxy class for calling the specified Web service from client script.
The following example shows how to enable a Web service named SimpleWebService.asmx to be called from script in an ASP.NET Web page.
<asp:ScriptManager runat="server" ID="scriptManager">
<Services>
<asp:ServiceReference
path="~/WebServices/SimpleWebService.asmx" />
</Services>
</asp:ScriptManager>
The ServiceReference object can reference a Web service only in the same domain as the page. The Web service path can be relative, application relative, domain relative, or absolute. For absolute paths, you must make sure that the path is in the same domain.
When a page that contains this ScriptManager control is rendered, the page creates a JavaScript proxy class for the SimpleWebService.asmx Web service. The proxy class has methods that correspond to the Web methods in the SimpleWebService.asmx service. The page also contains JavaScript proxy classes that correspond to server data types that are used as input parameters or return values for the Web service methods. This enables you to write client script that initializes these parameters, and to pass them to the method call.
The InlineScript property of the ServiceReference object specifies how the JavaScript proxy class is included in the page. If InlineScript is set to false (the default), the proxy script is obtained by making a separate request. This option is better when multiple pages reference the same service and when browser caching is enabled.
If InlineScript is set to true, the proxy class script is included as an inline script block in the page. This can improve performance by reducing the number of network requests. This is especially true if there are many service references in the page and other pages do not reference the same service. If InlineScript is set to true, you must use a relative path. If the path is domain-relative, it must refer to the same Web application.
The following examples show a simple Web service that is called from script that displays the user's input and returns the current server time. The following example shows the page that makes service calls through client script.
<%@ Page Language="VB" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html >
<head id="Head1" runat="server">
<style type="text/css">
body { font: 11pt Trebuchet MS;
font-color: #000000;
padding-top: 72px;
text-align: center }
.text { font: 8pt Trebuchet MS }
</style>
<title>Simple Web Service</title>
<script type="text/javascript">
// This function calls the Web Service method.
function EchoUserInput()
{
var echoElem = document.getElementById("EnteredValue");
Samples.AspNet.SimpleWebService.EchoInput(echoElem.value,
SucceededCallback);
}
// This is the callback function that
// processes the Web Service return value.
function SucceededCallback(result)
{
var RsltElem = document.getElementById("Results");
RsltElem.innerHTML = result;
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<form id="Form1" runat="server">
<asp:ScriptManager runat="server" ID="scriptManager">
<Services>
<asp:ServiceReference path="SimpleWebService_VB.asmx" />
</Services>
</asp:ScriptManager>
<div>
<h2>Simple Web Service</h2>
<p>Calling a simple service that echoes the user's input and
returns the current server time.</p>
<input id="EnteredValue" type="text" />
<input id="EchoButton" type="button"
value="Echo" onclick="EchoUserInput()" />
</div>
</form>
<hr/>
<div>
<span id="Results"></span>
</div>
</body>
</html>
<%@ Page Language="C#" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html >
<head id="Head1" runat="server">
<style type="text/css">
body { font: 11pt Trebuchet MS;
font-color: #000000;
padding-top: 72px;
text-align: center }
.text { font: 8pt Trebuchet MS }
</style>
<title>Simple Web Service</title>
<script type="text/javascript">
// This function calls the Web Service method.
function EchoUserInput()
{
var echoElem = document.getElementById("EnteredValue");
Samples.AspNet.SimpleWebService.EchoInput(echoElem.value,
SucceededCallback);
}
// This is the callback function that
// processes the Web Service return value.
function SucceededCallback(result)
{
var RsltElem = document.getElementById("Results");
RsltElem.innerHTML = result;
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<form id="Form1" runat="server">
<asp:ScriptManager runat="server" ID="scriptManager">
<Services>
<asp:ServiceReference path="SimpleWebService.asmx" />
</Services>
</asp:ScriptManager>
<div>
<h2>Simple Web Service</h2>
<p>Calling a simple service that echoes the user's input and
returns the current server time.</p>
<input id="EnteredValue" type="text" />
<input id="EchoButton" type="button"
value="Echo" onclick="EchoUserInput()" />
</div>
</form>
<hr/>
<div>
<span id="Results"></span>
</div>
</body>
</html>
The following example shows the service that is called through the client script.
<%@ WebService Language="VB" Class="Samples.AspNet.SimpleWebService" %>
Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.Services
Imports System.Xml
Imports System.Web.Services.Protocols
Imports System.Web.Script.Services
Namespace Samples.AspNet
<WebService(Namespace:="http://tempuri.org/")> _
<WebServiceBinding(ConformsTo:=WsiProfiles.BasicProfile1_1)> _
<ScriptService()> _
Public Class SimpleWebService
Inherits System.Web.Services.WebService
<WebMethod()> _
Public Function EchoInput(ByVal input As String) As String
Dim inputString As String = Server.HtmlEncode(input)
If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(inputString) Then
Return String.Format("You entered {0}. The " + _
"current time is {1}.", inputString, DateTime.Now)
Else
Return "The input string was null or empty."
End If
End Function 'EchoInput
End Class 'SimpleWebService
End Namespace
<%@ WebService Language="C#" Class="Samples.AspNet.SimpleWebService" %>
using System;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Services;
using System.Xml;
using System.Web.Services.Protocols;
using System.Web.Script.Services;
namespace Samples.AspNet
{
[WebService(Namespace = "http://tempuri.org/")]
[WebServiceBinding(ConformsTo = WsiProfiles.BasicProfile1_1)]
[ScriptService]
public class SimpleWebService : System.Web.Services.WebService
{
[WebMethod]
public string EchoInput(String input)
{
string inputString = Server.HtmlEncode(input);
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(inputString))
{
return String.Format("You entered {0}. The "
+ "current time is {1}.", inputString, DateTime.Now);
}
else
{
return "The input string was null or empty.";
}
}
}
}