Limitations of ScriptManager in AJAX Calls - asp.net

Is there any limitations on AJAX Calls with ScriptManager to Web Services?
I have an application and I need an AJAX enabled form in it. After every Insert or Delete, I have to get a list from database and show it on page. So I call two server methods from my JS.
Isn't too many AJAX calls gonna cause any errors(eg. timeouts, transfer errors etc.)?

Too many of any kind of request will give you the same things to worry about. An AJAX request is just like any other HTTP request, a ScriptManager control won't be imposing any constraints.
The only limitation is your hardware and your IIS settings (application pool connections, etc.).
Of course, you should always be smart about how you program your methods, utilize caching where appropriate, etc. to ensure that they will hold up under heavy load.

Related

HTTPModule as ajax handler (IIS7+)

i have an argument at work about the best way to implement ajax handling for forms. we build all our forms under asp.net platform (sharepoint to be exact) but since we talk about public sites we though to cut the time-costing postbacks and make all postback in ajax request.
in order to best implement the server side i took a bit deeper look into handlers and modules and i then thought that i can cut all that by implementing a module that in his beginRequest identifies if its an ajax request (say by a special element in the querystring), and if so call CompleteRequest() and then in this module's endRequest if it was our ajax (say i flagged it in beginRequest) handle it.
so i would like to hear your thoughts about the pro's and con's about it, and also how "dangerously" it can impact the entire website ect.
the other option is, o.c., a generic handler (ajaxHandler.ashx).
i am again stating we are talking about IIS7+ where they integrated the pipelines.
p.s.
another thought is to build a WCF that will have to "open" (create instances) of anything that i would already have in my handler/module (in sharepoint for example the SPContext)
regards
Bresleveloper

Why don't ASP.Net handlers support session by default

I understand that in order for a ASP.Net handler to support session state you need to implement both IHttpHandler and IRequireSessionState, but why isn't session state provided by default? If for performance reasons, then wouldn't it be better to have an interface like IDoesNotRequireSessionState?
Its because the session is block the asynchronous operations, and the handle is usually used for long time operations, like the making and download of a file - if you keep the session on long time operation you block the rest of your pages.
Also the handle is made with the idea of the minimum required to get a response.
About the session lock:
Web app blocked while processing another web app on sharing same session
jQuery Ajax calls to web service seem to be synchronous
ASP.NET Server does not process pages asynchronously
Replacing ASP.Net's session entirely
If for performance reasons, then wouldn't it be better to have an
interface like IDoesNotRequireSessionState?
Absolutely not, because then everybody implementing a handler must know about the existence of this interface. An HTTP handler is the fastest in terms of performance you might ever get from ASP.NET. So if you want to pollute it with crap like session then you'd better do it explicitly, and taking full responsibility of doing so, by implementing some interface that you should know about.

ASP.Net Web Handler

What is the advantage of Managed Handler over normal .ashx web Handler?
What will be the best option for a performance critical application?
Asp.Net Synchronous Web Handler
Asp.Net Asynchronous Web Handler
For a multiple concurrent request handling application such as an Image managing application what handler will be the best option? Synchronous,Asynchronous or Managed
First, both synchronous and asynchronous handlers authored in .NET are managed handlers. "Managed" is only a term used in context of IIS, which can use handlers written in native, unmanaged code as well as managed.
As to which you should use, it depends. It will come down to the nature of the work the handler performs, and concurrent user load. If you have a large number of concurrent users with a reasonable amount of IO, database, processing, or external service calls, then async can yield performance gains. Similarly, a small number of concurrent users can still benefit in the event the handler performs long-running, heavy IO or other processing. However, you wouldn't automatically just assume the worst (high user concurrency) and immediately set in on an async handler. They are more complicated to author, debug, and maintain.

What is a Partial Postback?

I'm an experienced web developer in several different web technology stacks. I currently work in .Net and I've become curious about the Partial Postback.
I understand what the Partial Postback's function is and how to work with it programatically, but I don't like using technology that I don't understand, how is a Partial Postback implemented.
I understand HTTP Requests and Asynchronous Requests, the thing that bugs me about the Partial Postback is that it seems to be both.
Maybe I'm just missing something but it appears to me that the Partial Request does both, first firing off an Asynchronous POST Request but the Browser seems to be aware and the activity indicator starts to spin, which normally only occurs during an HTTP Request Page Render.
So can anyone shed some light on how Microsoft implemented, at the HTTP Request level, the Partial Postback?
I know this question has already been answered, but I disagree with the answer...
In my humble opinion, the term 'partial postback' is being misused in the above-mentioned article "How to write your own partial postback in ASP.NET 2.0". In this article, the author shows you how to make an AJAX call to an HttpHandler. This is a very different process than making PartialPostback calls in ASP.NET.
I beleive this 'difference' is eluded to in the (above answers) after-thought comment which states:
"An UpdatePanel not only refreshes the controls which it contains, it also updates the ViewState value with the one obtained from the server, after processing."
While this final comment somewhat elusively-illustrates the definition of a 'Partial Postback' using an ASP.NET UpdatePanel...it doesn't explain what a partial-postback is (which, once again, is a very different process than that of a normal AJAX call).
To elaborate...
MICROSOFT ASP.NET AJAX Using UpdatePanel's:
At a basic level, Microsoft AJAX supports asynchronous requests via a partial-page-postback. Partial postbacks iterate through the same page lifecycle as a synchronous full page postback, but only specific regions or controls on the page are refreshed - thus achieving partial page rendering. MICROSOFT ASP.NET AJAX is dependent on the interceptor pattern to generate and handle a partial-postback. Upon initialization, MICROSOFT ASP.NET AJAX JavaScript libraries add a set of client event handlers to intercept calls that would normally initiate a full page postback. The handler functions intercept postback calls from registered controls, generate a partial postback, process the response content and then update page content asynchronously. Since MICROSOFT ASP.NET AJAX is built on the existing ASP.NET postback architecture it utilizes event-validation and maintains the view state throughout the partial-postback process. Your standard 'normal' AJAX call doesn't do these things!
To put it shortly...
MICROSOFT ASP.NET AJAX uses 'normal' AJAX to 'ajax-ify' it's pages and achieve partial-updates...and in doing so, it trades & manages view-state MULTIPLE times throughout a single call. This is WHY it is called a 'partial-postback'. Subsequently, this is also why they originally described the UpdatePanel as a means to make your pages 'ajaxy' (because it is not the same thing as using AJAX).
NORMAL AJAX Calls:
Asynchronous requests initiated using JavaScript in the browser creates a new connection to a server. Yes...this may include stateful postbacks to a page, but also stateless requests to resources apart from the current page. However, in the case of an asynchronous postback , only the information that needs to be processed by the current page on the server is passed INTO the request (and you can control this). Meaning, the contents of the entire page do not need to be submitted, no view-state needs to be managed & the (native) overhead embedded into the page-lifecycle can be bypassed. Meanwhile, an asynchronous postback only calls server-events associated with processing the CURRENT REQUEST. This is why normal AJAX is so much faster than PARTIAL POSTBACKS!
These Points Illustrate...
Not only WHAT a 'partial postback' is...but WHY there is a difference between a 'partial postback' and an 'ajax' call. Which is why this is a better answer.
From How to write your own partial postback in ASP.NET 2.0:
At the heart of the partial post back construction is the XMLHttpRequest, a DOM API. It can be used inside a web browser scripting language, such as JavaScript, to send an HTTP request directly to a web server without having to reload the entire page and handling the response from the server again within the scripting language. This data, in the form of XML, can then be used to manipulate the page elements on the client side.
When the button on the ASPX page has been clicked, a client side HTTP request is made using the XMLHttpRequest API. This request is handled by an HttpHandler on the web server. The HttpHandler receives the request, processes it, and sends back the response to the XMLHttp object on the ASPX page. The XMLHttp object in turn consumes the response and renders the appropriate UI changes without the browser having to do a full refresh of the page.
An UpdatePanel not only refreshes the controls which it contains, it also updates the ViewState value with the one obtained from the server, after processing.
Take a look at:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/aspnet/PartialPostback.aspx

best way to consume a webservice in an asp.net code behind

I'm trying to bind a datasource to a repeater, for instance, to a web service (.asmx from a different website) on page load. The webservice returns a DataSet from an sql call. What is the best way to go about doing this?
Because you're calling another website, you have to contend with two issues (especially if this web service is on somebody else's website or over the public internet). First, there might be a delay to retrieve the data from the other website. Second, the other website might timeout.
At a minimum you should consider an asychronous page request. As this MSDN article states:
If a synchronous request becomes I/O
bound—for example, if it calls out to
a remote Web service or queries a
remote database and waits for the call
to come back—then the thread assigned
to the request is stuck doing nothing
until the call returns. That impedes
scalability because the thread pool
has a finite number of threads
available. If all request-processing
threads are blocked waiting for I/O
operations to complete, additional
requests get queued up waiting for
threads to be free. At best,
throughput decreases because requests
wait longer to be processed. At worst,
the queue fills up and ASP.NET fails
subsequent requests with 503 "Server
Unavailable" errors.
But the best solution is probably to use AJAX. Load the page then make an ajax request to fill the repeater. That way you can have the nice "spinning" graphic or something else happening while you are waiting on the webservice.
Call the webservice, take the result, and bind it to your repeater.
If you can, you might also try to cache the information for a time on your side, if possible to help with overall performance.

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