Question

Can I pass a custom object between AJAX enabled WCF and my asp.net page?

I searched the web but could not find any examples. Most shows simple types like string and integers.

I also do not know how to populate custom object’s property through JavaScript on the client side.

We have a browser add on and we have to pass data to that addon from a web service, I researched and looks like AJAX enabled WCF is way to go

Using .net framework 3.5 and VS 2008

Answer 1

You can’t pass the actual custom objects, but you can of course pass the serialized version of them through your service and to your page, javascript, etc. Basically, you have to map the fields of your complex custom .NET types to classes decorated with the DataContract attribute. These classes are the types that your service will return. The DataContract-decorated classes will contain fields with primitive types, like strings, integers, etc. The WCF service will serialize these into XML or JSON.

On the client side, jQuery will be your best friend. I personally prefer JSON because the properties of your objects are much easier to get at that way instead having to deal with parsing a bunch of XML. So, setup your service to output JSON.

Also, to make your service URLs easier to read, make sure to use a RESTful approach. It’s as easy as decorating your service methods with the WebGet attribute and supplying a UriTemplate. Once you see some examples, it’ll blow your mind. Note: if you ever encounter a WebInvoke with Method=”GET”, just use WebGet instead…it’s more compact…no Method specification needed.

This particular article was EXTREMELY useful to me when I was developing my WCF service and the ASP.NET app that consumed it: http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/sridhar_subra/116/

Here’s another person asking the same question as you: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/wcf/thread/879d46af-9c78-4b5d-b746-82843d742a6f

Hope this helps! Long live WCF!