"jerc" wrote:

> Howdy:
>
> I'm building a very simple web application and have noticed extremely odd
> behavior associated with the Ajax:AutoCompleteExtender. I'm using a
> asp:wizard and on step N of the wizard I have a few textboxes which I've
> extended with the AutoCompleteExtender from AJAX.
>
> One textbox, in particular, is for a user to enter a lot number. This lot
> number can contain any number of special characters (for exampe, a lot might
> be 2008-01, representing the first lot in the year 2008).
>
> The problem I've run into is the data being rendered at the client by the
> AutoCompleteExtender is not the data that resides in the database, nor the
> data being returned by the web service the AutoCompleteExtender consumes.
>
> It's a bit of a conundrum. I noticed the lot numbers being "suggested" were
> not familiar, so I did quick query in the database on the LOT column in table
> X. Several of the "suggested" items did not even exist. Quite odd... and I
> started to wonder where could this non-existent data possibly be coming from.
>
> I placed a breakpoint in the web service being consumed by the
> AutoCompleteExtender.
>
> Here's the code for the web service:
>
> [WebMethod]
> [ScriptMethod]
> public string[] AutoCompleteLotNumber(string prefixText, int count)
> {
> List<string> items = new List<string>();
>
> IDBManager dbManager = new DBManager(DataProvider.SqlServer);
>
> dbManager.ConnectionString =
> ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["ConnectionString"].ToString();
>
> dbManager.Open();
> dbManager.CreateParameters(2);
> dbManager.AddParameters(0, "@LOTNUMBER", prefixText);
> dbManager.AddParameters(1, "@ROWCOUNT", count);
> dbManager.ExecuteReader(CommandType.StoredProcedure, "acLotNumber");
>
> while (dbManager.DataReader.Read())
> items.Add(dbManager.DataReader["LOTNUMBER"].ToString());
>
> dbManager.Dispose();
>
> return items.ToArray();
> }
>
> I placed the brake point at the end so I could do a quick watch on the items
> array. Low-and-behold, the items array contained the correct data for the
> lot numbers. So, somewhere between the web service and the client the data
> is being altered.
>
> The quick watch revealed the following items in the array:
> items (count = 15)
> ...
> [6] "10827-0029"
> [7] "1090000329731"
> [8] "109396/1.1"
> [9] "109748/1.1"
> [10] "1111"
> [11] "11112"
> ...
>
> Note the dash in item 6, and the slashes in items 8 and 9.
>
> Now, when the AutoCompleteExtender renders at the client, I receive the
> following in the "suggested" items drop down list (these items correpond to
> the items in the array above):
>
> ...
> 10798
> 1090000329731
> 99450.90909090909
> 99770.90909090909
> 111
> 11112
> ...
>
> It doesn't take a mathematical genius to realize what's happening. The dash
> and slash is being interpreted as subtraction and division, respectively, and
> the result is what's being displayed at the client.
>
> Looks like a bug to me, or maybe I'm doing something completely wrong. Does
> anyone have any idea how to go about fixing this? I'm returning a string
> array from the web service, not that it means anything to javascript, so I'm
> not sure what else I could do to prevent this calculation from taking place.
>
> Any suggestions would be most appreciated!
>