Use Calendar control without postback to Server?

[John Kotuby]

Hi all,

Just wondering. I am converting an ASP application to ASP.NET 2.0. The ASP
version used a JavaScript Calendar that would pop up on the client side and
populate various text fields with the selected date. Very cool. I am trying
to emulate that behavior with the ASP.NET Calendar control, but it seems to
require a call back to the server (postback) to actually populate a textbox.
I can see how that would take a while for a dial-up connection. Even using
my local IIS server I can see a delay during refresh. Is there anyway to use
an ASP.NET calender in the browser without requiring a postback?

Considering that ASP.NET is much more advanced than "legacy" ASP, I am
guessing there must be a way to do this. Maybe I am trying to use the wrong
control or don't yet understand all it's capabilities.

Does anyone have any input on this or maybe can point me to a resource
describing such a use?

Thanks muchly for any help with this....

[Mark Rae]

"John Kotuby" <jo***@powerlis t.comwrote in message
news:OK******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP05.phx.gbl...

Considering that ASP.NET is much more advanced than "legacy" ASP,

It certainly is.

I am guessing there must be a way to do this.

Not natively... You can use Ajax / Anthem which will allow you to use the
<asp:Calendarco ntrol without a postback, but it will still use a callback
which involves a round trip to the server and back...

Maybe I am trying to use the wrong control

You are if you are looking for a completely client-side solution...

point me to a resource describing such a use?

There isn't one...

Begs the question, though, why not continue to use your JavaScript date
picker...?

[John Kotuby]

Thanks Mark...

I was hoping that ASP.NET had another solution, but if the J in AJAX refers
to JavaScript then JS is not considered legacy. I was having trouble getting
the call to the DatePicker to work correctly. But you already know that
since you were trying to help me with that....which I appreciate.

>Hmm - you might be able to fix it by escaping one of the pairs of quotes
e.g. \'.....\'

Another option, though a bit of a kludge, might be something like:

var objCreateDate =
document.getEle mentById('<%=tx tCreateDate.Cli entID%>');
href="show_cale ndar(objCreateD ate)";

I had since discovered a way to get the Calendar control to "pop up" over
the other controls using CSS
Style="visibili ty:hidden; position:absolu te; top:40%; left:30%" and then
changing the visibility attribute upon click of the anchor element. A
discovery for me since I have been programming almost excusively in VB6 and
SQL 2000 for the last 5 years. Lot's of new disciplines to learn for web
applications.

But if I'm even going to consider asynchonous call backs or get proficient
at what used to be called DHTML, then I had better get my JS skills in gear.

Your dedication to this newsgroup is impressive. I tried answering someone
else's question with a code example of my own and found out what type of
effort that takes. Especially when deadlines loom.

OK, back to the drawing board...

Have a good evening,

"Mark Rae" <ma**@markNOSPA Mrae.comwrote in message
news:%2******** ********@TK2MSF TNGP06.phx.gbl. ..

"John Kotuby" <jo***@powerlis t.comwrote in message
news:OK******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP05.phx.gbl...

>Considering that ASP.NET is much more advanced than "legacy" ASP,

It certainly is.

>I am guessing there must be a way to do this.

Not natively... You can use Ajax / Anthem which will allow you to use the
<asp:Calendarco ntrol without a postback, but it will still use a
callback which involves a round trip to the server and back...

>Maybe I am trying to use the wrong control

You are if you are looking for a completely client-side solution...

>point me to a resource describing such a use?

There isn't one...

Begs the question, though, why not continue to use your JavaScript date
picker...?

[Mark Rae]

"John Kotuby" <jo***@powerlis t.comwrote in message
news:%2******** ********@TK2MSF TNGP04.phx.gbl. ..

I was hoping that ASP.NET had another solution, but if the J in AJAX
refers to JavaScript then JS is not considered legacy.

Indeed not... Powerful though ASP.NET is, its main function remains the
creation and output of markup to be streamed to a client browser, and
JavaScript is still an extremely important part of that... And the 'J' in
AJAX does indeed refer to JavaScript... :-)

But if I'm even going to consider asynchonous call backs or get proficient
at what used to be called DHTML, then I had better get my JS skills in
gear.

Absolutely!