Access jQuery Controls on Server Side?

Question

Is there a library or framework built for invoking jQuery / Javascript functions from the server side?

For example, say I'm using a jQuery UI datepicker control on my page. The datepicker's format (e.g., MM/dd/yyyy) is configurable on a per-user basis. In this scenario I'd have to retrieve user preferences on the server, record the user-chosen format in a hidden control, send the HTML page to the client, and finally extract the format from the hidden control on the client side. Does any library exist that facilitates this long-winded process?

Answer 1

I like to use custom attributes for this sort of thing.

<asp:TextBox runat="server" id="myDatePicker" ClientIDMode="Static" 
  format="MM/dd/yyyy" />

Render the attribute when you render the page based on the user settings, then the client code can just grab it whenever it's needed and apply as appropriate:

var format = $('#myDatePicker').attr('format');

I sometimes use a simple infrastructure for this purpose which can JSON+base64 encode objects to include in a generic "data" property, then unwind it at the client, to add more complex information to a control.

In other situations I just grab the settings when I need them from the client using a service called through ajax, but this way is more efficient, if you already know what it is when the page is rendered.