ASMX Service raises 500 error and returns binary nonsense

19 January 2017

There are a few cases when an ASMX service in ASP.Net can return a 500 error and a load of junk binary data. Here are the probable causes and solutions:

“I attach Visual Studio to the running code, but the server-side function is never even reached”

The parameters to the function were passed incorrectly. Check the names, cases, and data types of the parameters to your serverside function. These need to be passed exactly by a JSON object in your calling code.

Server method in MyWebService.asmx:

[WebMethod]
[ScriptMethod]
public bool CheckValidity(string discountCode)
{
	//Do stuff
}

Calling code in HTML/JS:

var promoCode = "FREESTUFF";
var res = $.ajax({
	type: "POST",
	async: false,
	url: location.protocol + "//" + location.host + "/Services/MyWebService.asmx/CheckValidity",
	data: "{discountCode:'" + promoCode + "'}",
	contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
	dataType: "json",
	success: function (data) {
		if (!data || !data.d) {
			IsValid = false;
			return;
		}
		if (data.d === true) {
			IsValid = true;
			return;
		}
	},
	error: function () {
		IsValid = false;
		return;
	}
});

“I can attach and the function gets called”

You simply have a fatal error in your code, which you should be able to see and diagnose.