c# - How to return JSON with ASP.NET & jQuery

Question

I cannot get how I can return JSON data with my code.

JS

$(function () {
$.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: "Default.aspx/GetProducts",
        data: "{}",
        contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
        dataType: "json",
        success: function (msg) {
            // How to return data here like a table???  
            $("#Second").text(msg.d);
            //alert(msg.d);
        }
    }); 
});

C# of Default.aspx.cs

[WebMethod]
public static string GetProducts()
{
   var products  = context.GetProducts().ToList();   
   return What do I have to return ????
}

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

You're not far; you need to do something like this:

[WebMethod]
public static string GetProducts()
{
  // instantiate a serializer
  JavaScriptSerializer TheSerializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();

  //optional: you can create your own custom converter
  TheSerializer.RegisterConverters(new JavaScriptConverter[] {new MyCustomJson()});

  var products = context.GetProducts().ToList();   

  var TheJson = TheSerializer.Serialize(products);

  return TheJson;
}

You can reduce this code further but I left it like that for clarity. In fact, you could even write this:

return context.GetProducts().ToList();

and this would return a json string. I prefer to be more explicit because I use custom converters. There's also Json.net but the framework's JavaScriptSerializer works just fine out of the box.