I have to integrate an existing asp.net web app into another page by using jquery's load() method...

Question

I'm a bit stumped...

I have to integrate an existing, simple asp.net web forms app including postbacks etc. into another external site with a jquery load() call., an app that was intended to be integrated through an iframe. I doubt that's possible without a rewrite of the app.

The app is a basic questionnaire that leads the user to a product suggestion at the end.

Does anyone have any pointers to how I could solve this? I guess I will probably have to rewrite the app with web services and dynamic calls to RenderUserControls, I will also need access to the page that calls the load() and write additional jQuery methods to handle the user input... I will probably have to remove all of asp.net's postback calls and rewrite the handling of the user input?

Any pointers or helping ideas? I wish I could already shell out a bounty for this because it is rather urgent.

Answer 1

First of all you should note that the load() function, like all ajax, can only work on the same domain. So if the 'external site' is on another domain ajax is the wrong choice.

It does sounds like a lot of hard work, depending on the complexity of the page. Postbacks can occur in many places - image clicks, combo selects, etc. Also, there are hidden fields to worry about, like the View State and Event handler - those have the same names on both pages. You'll have an easier time if the external site has no state and postbacks.

If the pages are relatively simple this can probably be done. It's been my experience that forms don't work well in other forms, so you'll have to remove one of them (probably the loaded page's form), or place them one after the other. As you've mentioned, you'll have to rewrite postbacks, you'll want to serialize the data. You may be able to change this string to fit the names on the original page (if you've changed the name of the viewstate, etc, it's easier to change it back on the serialized string than to mess with IDs), post it to the original page, and load again.

Personally, as much as I like jQuery, and as much as this project sounds interesting (and it is), I'd probably go for a server-side solution. It sounds much easier to create a user control (that may use ajax itself), or to the expose the page's functionality using web services or better, generic handlers.