Question

I’m currently enabling JSON calls to my web services using the ScriptService attribute. The problem is that one of my classes references a second class and .Net is not picking up and writing out the JavaScript for the second class.

As a workaround I can write a dummy method that just returns the second class. Then .Net writes the JSON to allow it to be serialized. So in the following example:

[ScriptService] public class MyService : WebService {     [WebMethod]     public void SaveClass1(Class1 class1) {         ...     } }  [Serializable] public class Class1 {     public Class2 class2 { get; set; } }  [Serializable] public class Class2 { } 

MyService.asmx/js won’t write code to allow me to instantiate Class2 in order for me to populate Class1. But I can make it work if I add:

[WebMethod] public Class2 Dummy() {     return new Class2(); } 

to MyService. Any alternatives to my nasty workaround would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You need to use System.Web.Script.Services.GenerateScriptTypeAttribute, which specifies that a server type should be included in the generated proxy code. You can apply this attribute to the web service itself or any method marked with WebMethodAttribute.

For example:

[ScriptService] [GenerateScriptType(typeof(Class2))] public class MyService : WebService {     [WebMethod]     public void SaveClass1(Class1 class1) {         // ...     } }