What's a PageRequestManagerParserErrorException?
The UpdatePanel control uses asynchronous postbacks to control which parts of the page get rendered. It does this using a whole bunch of JavaScript on the client and a whole bunch of C# on the server. Asynchronous postbacks are exactly the same as regular postbacks except for one important thing: the rendering. Asynchronous postbacks go through the same life cycles events as regular pages (this is a question I get asked often). Only at the render phase do things get different. We capture the rendering of only the UpdatePanels that we care about and send it down to the client using a special format. In addition, we send out some other pieces of information, such as the page title, hidden form values, the form action URL, and lists of scripts.
As I mentioned, this is rendered out using a special format that the JavaScript on the client can understand. If you mess with the format by rendering things outside of the render phase of the page, the format will be messed up. Perhaps the most common way to do this is to call Response.Write() during Page's Load event, which is something that page developers often do for debugging purposes.
The client ends up receiving a blob of data that it can't parse, so it gives up and shows you a PageRequestManagerParserErrorException. Here's an example of what the message contains:
How do I avoid getting a PageRequestManagerParserErrorException?
protected void
Page_Init(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
RegisterPostBackControl();
}
private void
RegisterPostBackControl()
{
ScriptManager.RegisterPostBackControl(pageControl);
}
