ASP.Net Integration with Ajax Toolkit

ASP.Net 3 and its later versions are considered the aggressive expansion of the tool for client side applications. The integration of Ajax toolkit has made it possible for developers to build Ajax based applications with little manual coding.

In gist, the integration of ASP.Net with Ajax through a toolkit has transformed ASP.Net an Ajax based framework. Although it's still possible to build ASP.Net based websites without using Ajax toolkit, the appeal of Ajax in terms of its functionality and efficiency is too good to be left out by developers.

But even with the impressive improvement of ASP.Net by adding an Ajax toolkit, the Ajax toolkit should still be considered as an extension. This fact actually has a lot of repercussions that developers take note before using ASP.Net for its ability to assist in building Ajax based applications.

Separation of Application and Extension

ASP.Net and Ajax toolkit extension are often seen together. Installation of ASP.net 3.5 will reveal the additional Ajax toolkit. Developers do not need to download additional tools to enable the Ajax toolkit in ASP.net.

But even though they are placed in a single package, updates in Ajax toolkit and ASP.Net may not happen at the same time. This means the extension may not work as expected when ASP.Net is updated. Every time the ASP.net is upgraded, the extension toolkit should be updated at as well.

Error in ASP.Net 3.5 SP1

The ASP.Net 3.5 SP1 is a relatively powerful tool out of the box. However, something "unique" has happened in ASP.Net 3.5 SP1 users in terms of Ajax toolkit. After launching the ASP.Net application, the tabs are automatically populated except for the Ajax extension toolkit. You'll still be able to see the tab for the extension toolkit but it will never be populated. You'll never be able to use any tools for Ajax since it's not available.

The cause of the problem is, unfortunately, unexplainable. Many observe that this problem is a small bug in ASP.Net 3.5 SP1 that should have been fixed a long time ago but was ignored. Not everyone is experiencing the problem but a fresh install of ASP.Net 3.5 SP1 will often reveal this error.

Fortunately, fixing the problem is just a matter of adding Ajaxcontroltoolkit.dll. The file could be added in anywhere in the local gadget. Since developers can freely create a new tab in ASP.Net 3.5 SP1, they can recreate the tab and point the toolbox to the Ajaxcontroltoolkit.dll. The rest will be done by the application. This solution works every time the problem occurs. Instead of a fresh install of both application and toolkit, recreating a tab with the help of a .dll file should be a better option.

The latest versions of ASP.Net have significantly assisted various developers in building Ajax based applications. Through the Ajax toolkit extension, developers were able to create Ajax based applications with little to no coding. However, updates should be implemented in the Ajax toolkit along with the updates in ASP.Net so that it will perform according to developer's expectations.