How do I add a Microsoft AJAX auto complete textbox to an existing ASP.NET 3.5 SP1 web application project?

Question

I played with this years ago when it was "atlas". Now I want to use it I assumed it would be a in the VS toolbox. Now all I can find on the web is total confusion!

Thanks.

Answer 1

Have you downloaded the AJAX Control Toolkit? It's available on CodePlex. Once you do that, and put the toolkit dll in your bin folder, you can begin using it.

Answer 2

I don't know how to do it using Ajax.Net. However, I like to use jQuery for as much Ajax/JavaScript stuff as I can. it's clean, simple, and fast.

So May I recommend the jQuery Autocomplete plugin? http://www.pengoworks.com/workshop/jquery/autocomplete.htm

Edit: So there is a Ajax.net version There is a tutorial here: http://www.asp.net/learn/AJAX-videos/video-122.aspx

Answer 3

I agree with Damien, now that jQuery is pretty much (or will become) ubiquitous in any .NET devs tool set I'd recommend the jQuery autocomplete plugin. I had it up and running in 30 mins.

Answer 4

Here's a link to the autocomplete sample for AJAX Control toolkit. It's a little difficult to set up because you have to set up and accompanying web service. If I were to start from scratch, I would probably use the jQuery method Damien mentioned. I wouldn't be surprised if the next version of the AJAX Control Toolkit was rewritten using jQuery since ScottGu's team endorsed it last October.

Answer 5

If you have bizarre scripting errors after integrating the AjaxControlToolkit into an existing site, then check to make sure you have setup your web.config properly (including the version numbers for the reference assemblies). You might want to create a new "dummy" AJAX web site in Visual Studio, using the AJAX template, to see what all is needed in the web.config.

Answer 6

I found the AJAX Control Toolkit solution to be really slow. Of course I'm open to it being my fault. We had already purchased the Telerik suite of controls and used theirs which had pretty good performance.