DotNet Ajax Frameworks

Gaia Ajax Web Widgets for ASP.NET 2.0

is the first Ajax library to not re-render HTML in update divs

• Have most of the ASP.NET controls wrapped in derived controls
• Also have some more advanced Ajax controls like AutoCompleter, Menu and Window
• Compatible with both normal ASP.NET and ASP.NET Ajax
• No JavaScript required to use
• 100% WYSIWYG and RAD
• Free to download (registering required)
• Follows the complete ASP.NET Page syclus (in server code it will "appear" to be a normal postback)
• Does not re-render the HTML in update divs

The last point is crucial in the design of Gaia Ajax Widgets since it's the basis for creating stateful controls which are also dynamically changeable. This is in most other Ajax framework an "either nor" option since mostly in other frameworks you'll have to choose if you want your widget to be updateable in Ajax Callbacks or if it should be possible to keep state. Gaia Ajax Widgets does not re-render HTML on return of your Ajax Request and therefor you can attach events to the DHTML controls on the client without being afraid of your event listeners being dropped when the server returns a "new set" of HTML and replaces your existing control with its attached events. This is crucial in constructing things like AutoCompleters where you want to be able to surfe the auto completion data from an event in your page and still be able to menipulate properties in other controls in that very same event handler etc...

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Ajax.NET Professional for ASP.NET 1.x/2.0 (from April 2005)

is the first Ajax framework for ASP.NET 1.x/2.0.

• AJAX library for ASP.NET which provides the very basic AJAX capability to make xmlhttp callbacks. Does not have any 'Ajax-enabled' controls or support for Viewstate, etc.
• Can serialize ANY data type from .NET including custom classes, structs or enum types
• Include JavaScript DataTable, DataSet, support for IList and IEnumeration, XML documents
• Supports Internet Explorer 5.0 and higher, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Netscape,...
• Great ActiveX replacement for Internet Explorer if ActiveX are disabled
• Download source code at
• Support by Google group:
• Demo and Download of Starter Kits available at
• Queuing actions to enable more than 2 concurrent requests
• No direct code change on server-side code using method attributes
• Caching available on the server
• JavaScript includes several prototype features like String.trim or Array.clear
• Asynchronous and synchronous methods with callback and context support
• Uses JSON instead of XML for performance reason
• Reduce HTML traffic (only data is sent instead of HTML code)

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Ajaxium - AJAX, ASP.NET 1.x/2.0 (from January 2006)

is the universal AJAX container for all ASP.NET pages and controls. In contrast to other AJAX-based approaches and huge , sites powered by Ajaxium remain accessible to all search engines and old browsers due to an automatic and silent degradation to the classic ASP.NET.

Ajaxium replaces ASP.NET postbacks by AJAX, transforming existing ASP.NET applications to Web 2.0 without JavaScript callbacks, callback-panels or server-side coding. Designed as an ultimate solution for ASP.NET developers, Ajaxium is compatible with all browsers supported by ASP.NET.

• Enables AJAX for ASP.NET controls without using any additional panels or controls placed on the ASP.NET form.
• Supports all browsers which lack required features owing to a graceful automatic degradation to the classic ASP.NET mode. Thus, Ajaxium-powered sites work even when JavaScript is disabled or the browser doesn't support the XmlHttpRequest object.
• Ajaxium-powered sites are indexed by all search engines. This is achieved by a graceful degradation to the classic ASP.NET mode performed automatically for all remote clients who have no JavaScript support. Since search engines ignore all JavaScript code, they do not see Ajaxium at all. Being invisible and leaving HTML source untouched, Ajaxium helps search engines to index the website.
• There is no need for developers to define explicitly which panels must be updated even for optimization purposes. Ajaxium automatically detects changed regions and performs an optimal update of single panels, multiply panels or the whole ASP.NET form. Ajaxium even automatically rewrites the entire document content if changes occur outside the form and document body (for example, in the document header).
• Even if additional panels are used to reduce page flickering in old browsers, Ajaxium always analyzes the whole content of the web page. If updates must be applied outside all defined panels, Ajaxium applies them for the ASP.NET main form or rewrites the entire document.
• Supports transition from one ASP.NET page to another.
• Allows you to use traditional ASP.NET postbacks with AJAX in any combinations.
• If a server-side error occurs or if the server returns an unexpected response (for example, a default error page), Ajaxium replaces the current document with a returned response, making the response accessible to the developer.
• Supports all ASP.NET server-side features and technologies, including data binding, session states, authorization, etc.
• Supports ASP.NET cookieless sessions. As a result, applications that do not use cookies can be just as well AJAX-enabled.
• Capable to revert to a traditional ASP.NET - both at run-time and during each separate session.
• While storing required information in the session state, Ajaxium gracefully handles session timeouts and all related pitfalls.
• Compresses viewstate and reduces HTML traffic.
• , and Downloadable Starter Kits available at

To date, Ajaxium enables AJAX on Internet Explorer 5 and above, Mozilla FireFox 1 and above (as well as other browsers which use Gecko engine), Opera 8.50, Konqueror 3+ and Safari 1.2+ (as well as other KHTML-based browsers). All other browsers view Ajaxium-powered websites as classic ASP.NET websites. Even if your favorite browser is Lynx you can access any page at an Ajaxium-powered site.

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Anthem.Net for ASP.NET 1.x/2.0

is Jason Diamonds' new version of a long-established Ajax library, now a SourceForge open-source project.

• Anthem.NET provides a set of ajax-enabled controls inherited from ASP.NET server controls, with most AJAX behaviours pre-built, avoiding lots of client Javascript. It supports Viewstate so that you can actually modify server controls (either Anthem controls, or ASP.NET controls inside an Anthem control, e.g. panel) in your serverside code, in C# or VB without having to mess about in JavaScript.
• Unlike some other Ajax implementations the system supports callbacks for Anthem controls that are inside user controls, and even for wizards and master pages.
• Binary versions for use in both .NET 1.1 and 2.0
• Open-source license from Jason Diamond.

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track-issue.com using Anthem.Net for ASP.NET 1.x/2.0

is ex cathedra's new concept.

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AjaxAspects

is an engine that uses JavaScript proxies to call server-side WebService methods.

• Use AJAX with Web Services.
• Built upon JavaScript client proxy methods for standard web services. (Just call a regular JavaScript method to call a method on the server).
• Standard SOAP and WSDL is reused for the communication between client and server.
• No need for special implementations in WebServices.
• Multiple types, Arrays and XML objects are supported as parameters and return values.
• Caching on the client and server.
• Queuing actions.
• Delaying actions.
• Many AJAX Controls available that integrate in standard ASP.NET Web Forms.
• Supporting ASP.NET 2.0.
• Full source code available.
• Demo web side available. See:
• Supported by a blog in: English and German
• Open-source license (Creative Commons license) by .

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ASP.NET AJAX (codename prev. 'Atlas', from late 2005)

is Microsoft's in-progress AJAX project.

• ASP.NET Atlas is a package of new Web development technologies that integrates an extensive set of client script libraries with the rich, server-based development platform of ASP.NET 2.0.
• "With Atlas, you can take advantage of the best of ASP.NET and server-side code while doing much of the work in the browser, enabling a richer user experience."
• Commercial (license terms unclear at time of writing) by Microsoft.
• Note that as of Beta 1, ASP.Net Ajax requires the assemblies to be deployed to the GAC. This may be an issue for shared hosting.

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Bitkraft for ASP.NET

Bitkraft is a CLR based (.NET) web framework that allows distributed web content to be created and served in a unique fashion. It is written in C# and compiles for operation under the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1+ or the .Mono Framework, making it portable to almost any platform.

At it's core, the Bitkraft framework extends the ASP .NET Architecture to fully support Javascript-based Server callbacks using the XmlHttpRequest object as a transport layer in a fashion referred commonly today as AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript Over XmlHttpRequest).

• Known browsers: IE5+, Firefox1+, NS6
• Server-side support: ASP.NET, Mono XSP, Cassini, Apache (modMono) .NET Framework 1.1+
• Attribute Driven
• Asynchronous and Synchronous methods mapped directly from Javascript proxy objects to the server
• Supports all .NET Types and custom classes mapped to JSON objects on the client
• Uses JSON instead of XML
• Open-source library by Wayne Lee-Archer.

Bitkraft is a CLR based (.NET) web framework

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ComfortASP.NET for ASP.NET 1.1/2.0 - AJAX for all

is an approach that lets Developers rely on pure ASP.NET programming while offering AJAX features.

• Internally ComfortASP.NET is using AJAX (DHTML, JavaScript, XMLHTTP) to implement these features - but the Web Developer only implements pure Server Side ASP.NET!
• Automatically transfers only changes between ASP.NET postbacks, this leads to:
  • Significant faster response for low bandwidth connections
  • Reduce HTML traffic (up to 90%, depending on new postback data)
• Reduce page reloads and use hidden postbacks instead
• AJAX / DHTML-like client experience (but without programming any AJAX / DHTML directly)
• Keep browser history free of postback entries ("Back Button" no more irritates your users)
• Auto disable form and prevent user input while postback or multiple form postbacks
• Control web client scroll position and focus from server side code
• Switch back at all times to original ASP.NET when you need it -- even dynamically at runtime
• Not supported by Mono

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Dart PowerWEB LiveControls

is a collection of 20+ Ajax-enabled web server controls that act as replacements for most standard Microsoft ASP.NET controls

• Design-time and runtime model and interfaces of LiveControls match the standard Microsoft controls to reduce the learning curve for incorporating Ajax into an ASP.NET application
• Supports Visual Studio 2002, 2003 and 2005 as well as .NET Framework 1.x and 2.0
• Additional controls such as LiveTimer and LiveSound extend the Windows control model to the ASP.NET platform
• Includes a LiveCallback control for advanced or custom integration with other 3rd party products and libraries
• Commercial product shipping since December 2004.

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emergetk -- the emerge toolkit

EmergeTk is a comprehensive application construction kit, designed to be a replacement for conventional ASP.NET webforms.

• built in O/R Mapper, embedded SQLite engine
• XML templates or create widgets procedurally in your favorite .NET language.
• Comet style sockets, or ajax polling available for 2-way communication
• live databinding - model to widget, widget to widget (i.e. webpage as spreadsheet), or model to model.
• vector graphics
• .NET 2.0, generic driven code base
• built on top of the dojo toolkit.

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FastPage - AJAX for Laziness ASP.NET developers

FastPage– new easy to use, complex vision of optimized Browser - ASP .NET Server talk. Base principals:

• Easy to use, install and configure
• Minimal changes to existing projects
• More than 10 times optimized traffic between client – server
• More than 10 times faster pages
• No more FEAR upon superfluous PostBack
• No more hard JavaScript, when its easy to use on Server
• Complex controls with many events are not fantasy now
• Support of 99% used browsers (IE, FireFox, Opera, Safari)
• Support of .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0

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MagicAjax.NET (from September 2005)

is an open-source framework designed to make it easier and more intuitive for developers to integrate AJAX technology into their web pages, without replacing the ASP.NET controls and/or writing javascript code.

• Just make the initial setup, put the controls you want to Ajax-enable inside an AjaxPanel and you're done!
• Many other features also available if you really want the advanced features as well.
• Open-source license (LGPL) by various contributors.
• Version 0.2.2 worked with mono; version 0.3.0 does not appear to.
• Version 0.3.0 works with .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0.
• Toolbox support in Visual Studio 2003 and 2005.

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MonoRail (from May 2005)

is a platform for developing C# web applications using templates instead of the webform based approach.

• Functionally similar to Ruby on Rails.
• Generates most/all of the Javascript for widgets and animation in the browser.
• Provides Helpers that work with the javascript library.
• Functions on the .Net and Mono Platforms on both Windows and Linux.
• Open-source license by multiple developers.

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Visual WebGUI (The .NET answer to Google's GWT)

With you get an open source AJAX framework that extends WinForms over ASP.NET.

• Works with ASP.NET 2.0 & 1.1
• Full WinFomrs like design time support
• Is an extension to ASP.NET
• Fully compatible with Internet Explorer & Firefox.
• Save up to 90% of the traffic.
• Provides almost all of WinForms controls and can be extendable.
• Does not require any usage of JavaScripts,HTML or any other web language (Full WinForms abstraction).
• Automatic optimizations of incremental updating and server postbacks.
• Automatic client side caching to reduce round trips.
• Leverages a unique "drawing" mechanism to enable getting more out of the same browser (what you do no see does not exist).
• Wait behaviors (for server loading times).
• Offline support to enable deployment as a smart client.
• Available as open source version.

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WebORB for .NET (from August 2005)

is a platform for developing AJAX and Flash-based rich client application and connecting them with .NET objects and XML Web Services. ()

• WebORB includes a client-side library called . The Rich Client System provides a simple one-line api to bind to and invoke any method on any .NET object or XML Web Service.
• Supports synchronous and asynchronous method invocations
• Does not require any modifications on the server-side code, no need for custom method attributes, special signatures or argument types. Does not require design-time stub generation.
• Synchronous invocations return data from the same invocation (no callback needed). Asynchronous invocations rely on a callback.
• Any server side method can be invoked synchronously or asynchronously.
• Client application can request special activation modes for the server objects. As a result objects can easily become stateful without any special programming
• Provides a special API for handling database query results - server code can return DataSets or DataTables and the client presents it as a special RecordSet JavaScript object. The object provides a way to retrieve column names as well as row data
• Support data paging. Client applications can retrieve data in pages thus streamlining user experience.
• Supports all server-side argument types as well as return values - primitives, strings, complex types, arrays, native .net collections, remote references
• Dual license (Standard edition is free, Professional is commercial). By Midnight Coders.

zumiPage: Easy AJAX for ASP.NET

With postbacks to the server are automatically captured on the client-side, and sent via an XmlHttp mechanism.

• "zumiPage requires no code changes to existing projects so you can write code for ASP.NET as you always do, using the standard web-controls and methodology, and zumiPage will take care of the rest. Your web application will run smooth, fast and be more interactive."
• Works with ASP.NET 2.0 & 1.1
• Fully compatible with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
• Save up to 90% of the traffic.
• Easy to integrate with existing projects.
• Does not require any usage of JavaScripts.
• Fast, invisible XmlHttp postbacks.
• Full control over returned controls on each postback.
• Wait behaviors (for server loading times).
• Commercial license by Amir Leshem.